


Do You Remember The Good Ol' Days?

by Itsyaboiy083



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Amputation, Angst, Borderlands: Borderlands 2, Death Threats, Fluff, Good Parent Handsome Jack (Borderlands), Gore, Handsome Jack (Borderlands) Being an Asshole, Implied/ Cannibalism, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Inspired by The Walking Dead, Intense, It’s zombies you know what’s coming, Jack is a Tease, Jack is a father figure to Angel, Jack is such a flirt, Jack kills a lot of people, Just sooo much blood, M/M, Major Character Injury, OCs - Freeform, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Poor Rhys, Protective Jack, Rape/Non-con - Freeform, Referenced/Implied Targeted Violence Towards Curtain Character, Rhys has trust issues, Rhys tries to kill as little people as possible, Serious Injuries, Smut, TRUST NO ONE, Tales From the Borderlands, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Threats of Violence, Trust Issues, Zombie Apocalypse, protect Rhys, trigger warning, twd references
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:34:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22953400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Itsyaboiy083/pseuds/Itsyaboiy083
Summary: In the zombie apocalypse, Rhys is just barely hanging on with a few others in his group. With just one arm, he renders himself useless and asks that hisgroup- his family leaves him behind. Just when the herd is drawing near, he sees a light, a group of others charging in, ripping apart the dead with gunfire. His eyes are half-lidded as he sees a tall strong statured figure stand above him, standing behind the lifeless reanimated corpse about to naw on his face, tearing the walkers skull open with a yellow handled machete. Rhys swears he feels like the man’s smirking as he looks down upon him. Whoever this man is, he starts to feel a little bit safer knowing he just saved his whole group.Or—Rhys and his group are saved by a man and his group. The man, Jack, says he has a camp called Helios with supplies and resources. What’s better than nothing? Something.
Relationships: Handsome Jack/Rhys (Borderlands)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	1. I’m Still Breathing

_”I can hear them...”_ He takes a small breath in, and a long one out. His eyes are closed, sight through his lids a red orange, the sun shining down with a warm kiss on his face.

A serene sound blissfully swarms his ears. So contempt. Perfect job, perfect house, perfect boyfriend.

 _”You can hear what?”_ The other man asks with a sweet voice, continuing to hold the others hand with two. He slowly grazes his thumb over the others right ring finger, smiling. There’s not yet a ring on it...

 _”Can’t you hear the birds?”_ He opens his eyes and turns to the man, with a confused look, trying not to smile.

_”Maybe you have super sonic hearing, Rhys.”_

Rhys chuckles, _”You are such a dork.”_ He sighs graciously, re-shutting his eyes, trying to bring back that calming feeling he felt before. Rhys feels himself about to doze off, taking a deep breath in and out.

 _”Am I losing you again?”_ The man asks.

Rhys begins with a quizzical look, _”You’ve never lost me, honey.”_

 _”But I have... ever since the fever struck, you stopped loving me the same.”_ The man’s hold on Rhys’ hand goes limp.

 _”Honey, your hands are so cold.”_ Rhys shrugs off his lover’s hands from his own, his eyes staying shut as he slowly processes the rest of his words. _”What’s this about a fever, are you okay?”_

_”Baby... I’m dead.”_

Rhys wakes up, about to respond. He turns his head, every movement weak, spotting a girl in place of his boyfriend. Her frizzy curled hair cascades over a part of her face, cheeks wet with tears.

“Rhys!” She yelps with joy. “You’re awake! You’ve been out for hours.” She scans his face for any signs of- well, anything.

“Where is he?” Rhys asks, a croak escaping his throat.

“Where’s who? Vaughn?”

“No... Francis.” Rhys corrects her weakly, voice lowering to a whisper. He feels so tired, as if a weight is holding him in place.

“Rhys don’t you remember? He got bit. We— you had to kill him, remember?” The woman’s voice trembled. She reached out and gasped as her brass knuckles touched his forehead. “You’re burning up. But we— we cut it off! Why is this happening?” She asks rhetorically, dampening a towel with grimy water from the chipped bowl to her right side, perched on a long, wide toolbox. “Dr. Zed, something’s wrong!” She cried.

The man, presumably Dr. Zed, rushes towards towards them, after promptly putting wooden stands on the near broken down door. “You keep holding back them dead things, Fi, won’t be gone too long.”

“Just hurry.” The woman responded.

Zed sits down to the left of Rhys, the back of his hand resting on his forehead. “This ain’t no biter fever, must be an infection.”

“Infection? But we bandaged it, hell even cleaned it! We used the axe and that’s the cleanest weapons we’ve got.” The woman began, exasperated.

“Now hold on a minute, Sasha, I don’t think it’s the wound that’s doing this. Must’ve been fighting something off beforehand.” He checked Rhys’ pulse, looking into his eyes and looking for any other scrape or injury. “Now Rhys, have you been feeling strange?”

Rhys’ eyes slowly move up to meet the man’s. Realisation hits as his eyes widen. “God... my head hurts.” He scoffs. “And— holy fuck!” He yells, pain shooting through him. “You- weren’t kidding when you said you were gonna chop my fucking arm off.” Rhys nervously chuckles, trying to play off the pain. Rhys peers over to see the now stump of, previously his right arm. He curses under his breath. He peers up to see a scared Sasha, on the brink of a panic attack. “It’s okay, Sash, I’m not going anywhere.”

“With this fever you might.” Zed adds. “If your body can’t bring itself down or get rid of whatever’s bothering ya, you’re gonna cook yourself out.”

“I—I feel fine.” Rhys grabs hold of his shirt, rapidly pulling it back and forth from his chest. “Just really warm.”

“Well, if that’s all you’re feeling, you we’ll enough to stand?” Zed asks, almost sure of the answer.

“Yeah, I could swing a few if I really wanted.”

“Don’t think you’ll get even one off with the amount of biters out there.” Rhys’ ears adjust, hearing growls and groans all around them. He looks to see both Vaughn and Fiona holding the door shut as the dead claw and push on the other side.

“We need could use some help right about now!” Vaughn exclaimed as a walker hand breaks through the door, almost grabbing his glasses clean off.

“I can help m-man the door.” Rhys stutters, beginning to sit up. He swats the hands trying to pull him down, dragging his legs off the table and onto the floor.

“That’s a big move for someone that’s been dead asleep for 8 hours.” Zed scoffs, stepping back. Sasha moves away to help push the door in place.

“The crowds getting bigger.” Sasha adds.

“Must be all the blood they’re smelling.” Zed breaks out into a chuckle, adjusting his medical mask. “Well Rhys, if you’re fit enough to sit you’re fit enough to stand. Up and at ‘em.”

Rhys sighs as he jokes in his head about not wanting to stand or sit anymore. But nudges those thoughts away as he uses most of his strength to lunge up, wobbling a little until a straight stand is accomplished.

“Heh, new you had it in ya.”

“Now to walk to the door—“

“Not so fast, son.” Zed cuts him off, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I’m gonna be straight with ya, since your right arm ain’t at the party no more, you’re gonna have to just sit out helpin’ the group for now.”

“But I—“

“And start helpin’ yourself.” Zed finished. “The last thing we need is you injuring yourself further.”

With a relentless silence, Rhys nodded, plopping himself back down on the table. “What am I supposed to do? Twiddle my thumbs?”

“If you’d like.” Rhys rolls his eyes.

Zed heads towards the rest of the group, helping the three with the door as he moves the wooden pillars into place. They shuffle around as each pillar slightly moves, backing away from the door. “That should hold it for a bit.” Zed says.

“How long is a bit?” Fiona asks, huffing over the overextended work she just pulled off. Zed shrugs his shoulders, proceeding to look around the room for more things to keep the door shut.

“Just be glad they’re not smart enough to start pushing in the boarded windows.” Vaughn remarks, bashfully pushing up his glasses as though he just said something hilarious or genius... probably both.

“Haha, very funny. Glad they totally haven't thought of that yet.” Sasha says sarcastically. Zed looks at Vaughn as though he's going to smack him upside the head. Sash admires this. "Maybe you should do it." She says.

"H-heyy we're all friends here!" Vaughn laughs nervously.

Before the fun resumes, the pillars pushing the door shut shake and rattle, the wood splintering at the middle. "Shit!" Fiona curses under her breath. Examining the wood, she discovers the pillars are partially hollowed out. "Why the fuck does a construction site have hollowed out pillars?!" She exclaimed, worriedly trying to prop the door shut with chairs and other things laying around. Sasha helps her look as Vaughn quietly panics, Dr. Zed retreating to Rhys' side to see if the table would be sturdy enough.

"You fit enough to stand, son?" Zed asks. Rhys nods slowly, standing up with a bit of a struggle.

"I can help you carry--"

"Rhys--"

"Let me." Rhys sternly insists, looking into the eyes on the man. Zed reluctantly nods his head in response, pulling up one side of the table to his chest. Rhys uses the strength of his left arm to bring it up. Not as high, but enough to slowly carry it over. "Urgh, fuck this is heavy.." He mutters under his breath, only enough for his ears only. 

"Bro, let me carry it the rest of the way." Vaughn offers. Rhys shakes his head.

"If I do this it'll be easier for me to say what I'm about to." He finishes his last words while propping the table against the door.

"And what is it you're about to say, Rhys." Fiona deadpans, straightening her posture with a hand on her hip.

Rhys looks directly into the eyes of his group members one by one, sighing. "I've only got one arm, guys. I'm useless to you all." He starts, swallowing hard. "I'll lure them further into the room while you hide in the storage closet, and hold them off as much as I can-"

"Are you out of your fucking mind? Rhys, you're family, we're not leaving you to die!" Sasha cries, grabbing hold of his wrist. 

"Sash I have a fever, and it's getting worse the more I stand. If the dead don't get to me first, the fever will." He continues, "The medicine we stocked up on when we left Sanctuary has been gone for weeks, I'm in no condition to go on without that type of medical support. But you- you guys have a fighting chance, I'll just slow you down." 

Fiona breaks the silence with a heavy sigh. "You're really pissing me off Rhys, you know that?"

"Yeah, well-" 

"I'm not finished." She deadpans, looking Rhys into his eyes. "I don't give two shits if you're not well enough. We found each other, built bonds with each other, and have survived a hell of a lot worse. If you think we're going to just leave you here, you're dead wrong, Rhys."

"I can't- I **won't** be the reason you all die." Rhys croaks, bringing his head down low. He closes his eyes, trying not to cry. The tears prick his eyes, leaving him with a glassy gaze.

Vaughn drops a heavy hand on his shoulder, smiling sweetly. "You won't be. This is our choice."

"Although y'all freak me way out and I hardly know ya, gettin' eaten alive with you four doesn't sound half bad." Zed adds, earning a few chuckles from everyone.

"I feel like I'm going to cry like a little bitch." Rhys says with some humour, eyes almost welled up enough to let a few go. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asks, almost hoping- praying they say no.

They all nod. Rhys sighs, and nods as well, swiping his fingers over his cheeks in hopes to rid his face of any tear droplets escaping. 

As if on queue, the loud murmurs increase, tearing down the door with chipped nails, hungry groans escaping their dead lips. They all take in a breath as they ready their weapons, waiting for the last bit of the door is crushed down to dust, leaving nothing in the way of them and the hoard. Rhys grabs a wrench meekly, using the sleeve of his shirt to wipe away the sweat off his forehead.

"Might as well go out fighting." Vaughn intensely adds. Rhys looks at him, with stars in his eyes.

"You're so cool, bro." rhys can almost feel himself start laughing, although he's dead serious.

"I know, bro." Vaughn shrugs it off, acting like his glasses are cool shades.

"Love the optimism, but we're about to be eaten by a bunch of walkers, so the least you could do is not let your guard down." Sasha says. They both murmur a _'Yes ma'am'_ to her, both wanting to do a salute afterwards, but don't in fear of making it worse.

The door comes crashing down, the dead bumping and crashing into the pillars until they've completely fallen down, trampling over what little remains. Rhys feels light headed as he crashes down on the ground, pain setting in.

"Rhys!" Sasha exclaims with surprise, trying not to bend down to see if he's alright, as she stands face to face with a hungry walker. "Zed could you-" He nods immediately. 

"G-guess I forgot about how much of a bitch it feels to have youre arm amputated." Rhys quiets remarks, smiling. 

Zed lowers to the ground, checking his forehead with the back of his hand. "You're burnin' up, son. If you don't get some water in soon you'll be gone in a few minutes." 

"Way to be a downer..." Rhys purses his lips mid-sentence, slowly closing his eyes.

"Stay with me, boy!" Zed yells, holding up his head. Rhys groans, eyebrows knitting.

"You think I'm gonna die in a place like this? I'm just resting my eyes." 

"Until you aren't anymore, Rhys." He adds. Rhys shrugs in a _fair enough_ way, sighing softly. He opens his eyes again.

"They're so heavy..." He complains.

"It might be a workout now, but you have to keep your eyes open. You'll thank me later." Zed insures. Rhys focuses on the three others bashing the skulls of walkers, watching as they work hard to keep them all safe. Vaughn arm gets grabbed, Fiona reacting quickly as she uses her axe to swipe a clean blow into the dead man's head. He nods as a thank you, resuming the fight. Rhys smiles softly, guilt washing over him.

"You have to leave me..." He whispers. "I can't watch you all die like this."

Sasha swings her spiked bat into the heads of many, shaking off the words Rhys just spoke. "Don't be so dramatic!" She says, throwing up her bat, bashing it down until head is just a soupy mess of brains and blood. Suddenly, a bullet whizzes past Sasha's face, directly into the head of a walker just inches away from her face. She spins around to see a military truck just outside, supporting three guys with assault rifles. Fiona notices this, and instinctively steps back. The group does the same, slowly making way for the mysterious men to continue shooting. "Keep your guard up!" Sasha warns, watching as the walkers closest to them get ripped to ribbons with heavy gunfire. Rhys is left shocked as he watches it all go down. Four more men charge in from the back of the herd, presumably have dealt with the others flooding in from outside. Vaughn eyes refocus from the herd to the outside, spotting not one, but three military trucks parked outside the building.

"Didn't know we warranted such a rescue." Vaughn scoffed, holding his weapon up to face level.

"Maybe it's not us they want." Fiona questions. They all watch as the dead crumble into nothing as they're riddled with bullets. The smoke clears from the heavy artillery, finally getting a good look at their saviours.

"Holy shit! Did you see that one's head? It went, Pbfft! Hah!" A man with a sculpted mask exclaims, bursting into laughter. Fiona, Sasha, and Vaughn are left baffled with a quizzical expression.

Zed stands up, not before carefully putting Rhys' head down. "Did that man.. just point out the way a curtain dead guy got dropped?" Zed pulls up a brow.

"If you were where I was standing you'd be laughing too, sweetheart." He smirked at the man, laugh dying off into a chuckle. Rhys props his head up with his wrist, turning himself to the side to get a good look at their rescuers. "Looks like it's yer lucky day! If it weren't for being in this specific little construction site, you five would've been thanksgiving dinner by now!"

"Thanks..?" Vaughn responds, quirking a brow. The masked man bows, looking a bit too giddy.

The mysterious man scans the room, scoffing softly as he realises, "All you've got are those diy weapons... don't you." He says. the silence gives him the answer. 

Rhys makes an attempt to stand up, only achieving a weak sit-up. The man snaps his gaze to Rhys, smiling. "Don't strain yourself, sweetheart. Getting up for little 'ol me, I liked you laying down." The man winked, Rhys rolled his eyes. Zed turns around to see Rhys, softly shaking his head. Like a stubborn puppy, he pouts his lips as he tries to stand, while Zed continues glaring at him. The man takes note of this behaviour, amused.

"You better stop." Vaughn whispers, catching note of this.

"Why should I? I don't want to look weak in front of this group, they'll think I'm weak!" Rhys whispers, almost yelping during his last words in his sentence. Vaughn continues to shake his head.

"You're not well enough!" Both Sasha and Vaughn explain.

"They don't know that." Rhys snaps back, furrowing his brows. He turns his attention back onto the masked man, whom appears to be smiling wildly. Rhys makes his attempt to stand up, surprisingly succeeding. "Um h-hey.. I'm the co-leader of the group, main being Fiona, I'd just like to say-"

"Thank you for rescuing us, although accidentally." Fiona finished Rhys' sentence with a perky smile, rushing over to wrap his arm around her neck. Rhys frowns, looking like a very upset puppy.

"You don't have to be so cute, bro." Vaughn teases. Rhys throws a glare his way, cheeks heating up from embarrassment. Vaughn starts chuckling, triggering the man to laugh too. He almost jumps at the add on, not realising he wasn't speaking as soft as he thought he was. Rhys grabs Fiona's hat, resting it over his face. 

"I'm gonna need that back soon." She whispers, chuckling. "But he is right, stop being so cute."

"Fever kill me please.." He begs. "Or the embarrassment will get me first." He sighs defeatedly. 

"Man, I wish I grabbed popcorn before we left, this is priceless!" The man exclaims, enthusiasm spilling over his words.

"So, are you gonna let us go?" Sasha finally asks. He stills, putting on his best thinking face.

"Ya'know, I could do that.. or I could give you two choices!" He says, dragging his words on. He swings his yellow handled machete around, twirling it in his hands. "You can go, that's true, you can march those little drumsticks out the door and we'll never see ya again! Or you can come back with us." He grins, stilling the blade in his right hand. "We have food, water, supplies. Hell even cold-packs for yer friends little noggin' of his! A fever? Hoo, doesn't sound too good."

"We'll take our chances." Fiona says, hoisting Rhys up a bit more as he starts to slip. Rhys' strength falls out from under him, the need to lay down overbearing.

"We have a doctor." The man sings wildly, breaking into a little whistle.

"We have one as well." Fiona _one ups_ him.

"Oh really? Because that man right there looks a lot like Dr. Zed. And if I'm not mistaken, he doesn't have a medical degree." The group stays silent for a bit, goading the man's grin to grow and grow.

"Well he's still pretty good!" Vaughn says, crossing his arms over his chest. The stranger nods, shrugging.

"Ohoho I bet." He said, looking over to Rhys again. "You don't look so good, sweetheart."

They look over to Rhys, his eyes fluttering shut. "H-He's a little bit dehydrated." Vaughn nervously says.

"I wanna... go with them, Fi." Rhys whispers to her, placing the hat delicately back onto her head.

Fiona nods, she turns back to the stranger. "O-Okay, we'll go with your group." Fiona immediately looks back at Rhys. "Just hold on a little longer, Rhys." His lips stay slightly parted, eyes shut. "Rhys?.. Rhys!"

-

_"What did you mean when you said forever?"_ Rhys asks with tears spilling out of his eyes, holding a crumbled rose in his hand, looking as though previously torn apart with hands. Petals decorated the kitchen, candles guiding the petals to the dining room, with a warm dinner waiting for the two men, standing just inches away. _"Are-Are you deaf? I asked you a question!"_ Rhys yells, trying to wiping the never ending tears slipping down his cheeks.

_"Baby-"_

_"Don't baby me, answer the question!"_

Francis pursed his lips. _"I- I said forever, because that's the time I want to spend with you. Baby, I love you."_

 _"Did you still feel that way when you were fucking _her_?"_ Francis' eyes widen, staggering back. _"Yeah, I know."_ He confesses, sniffling. _" _'Rhys, why are you so upset?'_ , _'Rhysie, why are you so distant?'_ , _'Do you even love me anymore? What's wrong?'_ "_ Rhys mockingly quotes him. Francis stands there, dumbfounded. _"Tell me it's not true, tell me those texts weren't what it looked like. Tell me those late nights waiting for you to hold me weren't to go see _her_."_

_"It- she means nothing to me-"_

_"I. Fucking. Knew it."_ Rhys drops the rose he had previously destroyed, defeat washing his body clean of any hope. He turns around, and starts walking away.

 _"Rhys..._ Rhys! **Rhys!** "

Rhys opens his eyes, looking at a clock ticking in front of him. "Thank God.." Vaughn sighs, relief washing over him.

Sasha softly wipes the tears off of Rhys' face, solemnly looking at him. "Rhys... you were crying while you were asleep. Are you okay?"

Rhys blinks twice, unaware until realisation hits. "O-Oh yeah! I'm fine.. must've been a nightmare." He shortly chuckles, pushing away the overwhelming thoughts storming his mind.

"Are you sure? You don't remember anything at all?" Sasha asks, concerned. Rhys silently gulps, thinking over the dream that previously haunted him. Although he could feel rage and confusion bubbling up, he couldn't help but go into a depressive state due to the events that played out in his mind. 

"Why does he have to hurt me.. even when he's dead." He whispers for only himself to hear. He took a deep breath in, slowly letting it go. Hoping no one heard. "No, I'm sorry. I'll try to remember for you." He flashes a fake smile, hoping it looks extremely real. Sasha smiles back, endearment in her face.

"Don't strain yourself, you just beat your fever." Vaughn assures, going in for a fistbump, Rhys gladly takes the invite, pounding it with his bro.

"Do I need to get you two a room?" the stranger says, leaning on the doorway.

'How long has that creep been here..?' Rhys asks himself, retreating his figure into the blankets, practically being buried. The man chuckles, walking into the room fully.

"Well, allow me to introduce myself, since y'all haven't asked yet.. the name's Jack! Handsome Jack if yer nasty." He winks directly at Rhys, a shiver running up the poor boy's spine. "We used quite a few medical supplies, had to run my men out to get some more just a bit ago." He began resting his hands on his hips, the holster carrying a yellow and white striped gun relaxing with a tiny clink sound.

"Yes, whatever it is you need, I'm on it." Rhys nods. "T-Thank you."

"Don't mention it, cupcake." Sasha eyes widen as he looks at Rhys, a funny look on her face. Rhys glares at her, understandably confused. Jack lowers to their level, eyes switching between the two. "Is this some telepathy I'm not getting in?" He asks. Rhys stifles a laugh, breaking eye contact with a girl.

Rhys makes an effort to sit-up, which Sasha stops him before it starts. "Sash-"

"Rhys I don't think-"

"Let me-"

"Please just-"

"Sasha let me-"

"Rhys you're naked!" She finally exclaims. Rhys blinks for a few seconds, processing the words. He looks around, seeing that his clothes are resting beside her frame. Sasha watches as Rhys goes from a pale cream to a beet red in a matter of seconds.

"W-W-Why are my clothes not on my body?" He stumbles over his words, pulling the sheets over himself. Jack can't hold it in anymore, and starts laughing up a storm.

"The doctor here suggested we remove your clothing to give the fever a chance to subside. Apparently your clothes were getting in the way.." Sasha blushes, embarrassed for the both of them. Jack shakes his head, making eye contact with Rhys. Obviously jokingly, but Rhys got the heebie jeebies as Jack continued shaking his head suggestively.

"I wanna say... help? But I'm not sure if I want that." Rhys blurts out. "Give me some privacy, please?"

"But bro, what if you fall?-"

"I'll be fine!" He squeaks, pulling his hand up to do a shooing motion. They all scatter, except for Jack, whom is still chuckling. "Y-You too... please." He clears his throat. The tall man stifles a soft 'cute' before heading out with the others, closing the door after him. Rhys sighs in relief, pulling his clothes up, laying them down on his lap. He proceeds to sit up, working the shirt over his head.

Once dressed, idea strikes, and he shuffles over to lock the door. After the bolts click, he walks back over to his bed, grabbing the satchel previously resting by his feet. Rhys unbuckles the leather latches, pulling the cap over to the back of the battered up container, to see a polished piece of metal materials all lined up in the shape of an arm. "I made this for.. son of a bitch." He spat, memories flooding back to him. He glimpse over at his stump, than at the arm, and realised what he had to do.

He pulled the belt from off his waist, the pant-loops tearing ever so slightly at the force, and tied it around his chest, teeth fastening it tightly. Once aligned with his arm, he pulled out a type of metal tool, pressing the on button softly. It zapped to life, the end buzzing with energy. He stuffed a cold rag in his mouth, setting the robot arm aside. 

"Here we fucking go." He mumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my fic! Really thought this was a good au idea? idk.
> 
> 1st dream: They are not yet engaged, and in the earlier stages of their relationship.  
> 2nd dream: Rhys confronts Francis over the discovery of his husband cheating, and is proven he was right.
> 
> See ya. <3


	2. I Can Do This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the zombie apocalypse, Rhys is just barely hanging on with a few others in his group. With just one arm, he renders himself useless and asks that his group- his family leaves him behind. Just when the herd is drawing near, he sees a light, a group of others charging in, ripping apart the dead with gunfire. His eyes are half-lidded as he sees a tall strong statured figure stand above him, standing behind the lifeless reanimated corpse about to naw on his face, tearing the walkers skull open with a yellow handled machete. Rhys swears he feels like the man’s smirking as he looks down upon him. Whoever this man is, he starts to feel a little bit safer knowing he just saved his whole group.
> 
> Or  
> —  
> Rhys and his group are saved by a man and his group. The man, Jack, says he has a camp called Helios with supplies and resources. What’s better than nothing? Something.

Rhys bit down on the cloth hard, slamming his fist on the table that he pushed close to him. Tears streamed down his face as he tried to quiet his screams with every effort he had left in him. Mumbles began spilling from outside the room, coming directly from outside the door.

Rhys brushed it aside, 'Stay focused' he told himself. He used the tool once more on himself, zapping the exposed nerves. He strained his lips together, trying to form an 'fffff' sound. He continued sobbing as he weakly pulled the robotic piece up, pushing in a 7 digit code that unlatched the hidden features within the arm. Wires and metal rods became exposed, the A.I recognising the exposed flesh as suitable to engage with. Rhys hovered it closer and closer to his arm, eyes widening amazingly big as the arm started buzzing it's way inside him. The technology sprayed a stinging cooling gel, before unsheathing a metal tube, activating into a tiny laser. The tool began sewing up the flesh with extreme heat, causing Rhys' back to arch off the bed, pulling and reaching at anything to squeeze.

"Arghh!" The cloth slipped from his mouth as he screamed in excruciating pain, not being able to bare it any longer. The robotic part finally adjusted, a humming ding of success before it ceased to jab. The wires and tubes rested, attached to the correct places. The door came splintering open, courtesy of Jack. They all rushed in to spot an unconscious Rhys laying halfway on the bed, sheets pulled off in balls. They all stood there, shocked, wondering what the hell was attached to the boy laying before them.

"Holy shit..." Vaughn deadpanned, wide-eyed. His jaw was completely open, extremely baffled. "He actually wasn't fucking kidding."

"Kidding?" Sasha asked, ushering him to continue. Vaughn looked at both Jack and Sasha, whom had quizzical looks on their faces.

"R-Rhys said, when _he_ became an amputee after the accident, he-he said he was building a robotic arm for him." Vaughn explained. "I always thought he was crazy, I-I mean how the fuck do you go about doing that!"

"You need a lot of fucking _advanced_ materials to just get a headstart, and the tools?" Vaughn continued, questioning if what he was looking at was even real at this point. 

"Didn't Rhy say he was an engineer before shit went down?" Sasha asked, stepping into action and helping Rhys get back into bed, careful not to touch _the thing_. "He said.. he said he worked in a secret area.. which was heavily guarded by military personnel" 

"Must've smuggled the tools." Jack said partially to himself, his thumb and index clasping at his chin. "This technology... I don't think he could just do this on the fly."

"You mean to say he has a blueprint or something?" Sasha asks, Jack hesitantly shakes his head, stifling a sigh.

"No.. no I don't think so. Probably was working on advanced technology while in this _secure, super secret_ place." Jack says. "Why haven't you two dingdongs seen this piece before?"

"I-I don't know! Rhys was always secretive and protective of his satchel... we always thought he was just carrying personal things! Or hoarding sweets like he used to." Vaughn stammers. Jack shakes off the urge to use a few jokes, or start aw'ing into laughter.

"Okay, lemme get this straight. You-"

Suddenly, two dings escape from the arm, flashing it's colour from solid silver, to yellow with white stripes, painting his fingers with the same silver previously drenching the entire piece. **"Thank you for activating, subject #1882519. We hope you enjoy your stay on... for further instructions, voice verification required."** The digital voice ends, static continuing for a second before complete silence.

"What in the ever living fuck was that." Jack deadpanned, pausing in between words as he stood there, baffled, hand hovering over his unbuttoned holster, inches away from reaching his gun.

-

Rhys stares out into the open fields, sitting idle in the front passengers seat. _"This trip will be worth it, Rhys, I promise."_ Rhys eyes flutter open and close, uninterest seeping into his complexion. Francis reaches for Rhys' thigh, resting it coarse hand on his clothed knee. Rhys stares at it, hiding behind shades. He wants to scream, push him away, almost goes... until the car's engine ceases to roar, and they've reached their destination.

 _"What if I don't want to go.."_ Rhys asks, pulling at the hemline of the rips decorating his jeans. Francis stares at him for a moment, studying his face.

The raven haired man softly shakes his head. _"Why wouldn't you want to come? We need this."_

 _"Marriage counselling, really Francis? Do you think we _really_ need this?"_ Rhys asks, and Francis nods in response. He sits back, scoffing.

 _"Please.. for me."_

_"You ceased the privilege of saying that when you decided to cheat on me."_ The car became silent, both men staring at each other.

 _"Just.. give it a try, please."_ He asks, almost begging. Rhys sees something in his eyes, and feels a weird pang of guilt, allowing himself to be fooled. He sighs, opening the car door on his side, and stepping out.

 _"Oh, and Rhys... I think you should wake up."_ Francis says, shrugging his shoulders. _"I think you wanna hear what they're saying."_

 _"What?"_ Rhys asks, mildly irritated.

Rhys wakes up, baffled as the dream he was previously having felt so real. His subconscious was right, as he kept his eyes shut to eavesdrop into the current conversation.

"I'm just saying, whatever type of man you might think he is, Rhys isn't what he seems." Jack insists, continuing to have a discussion with his entire group. Zed and Vaughn stayed silent, sighing and observing.

"Well if he was such a mysterious guy why hasn't he told us anything?" Fiona raises her voice, throwing her hands up. "Rhys _is_ what he seems. He may have a few secrets, but he's now a robot building freak!"

"How are _you_ so sure, huh?" Jack asks, raising a brow. "Because it seems to me you don't have enough evidence to plead your case. Go ahead, cupcake, I've been dying to hear it!" Fiona quiets down, accepting the fact he has a point.

Vaughn clears his throat, stepping forward in hopes of joining the conversation. "I used to be the CEO of this coding plant, which was very secluded, that would develop military grade anti-malware. Along with codes and tech that could lock out any personnel who tried to get in, even the skilled ones'. Also had a bunch of other perks, yadda yadda yadda." Vaughn began chuckling. "Not to sound, ya'know... full of myself, haha..." Vaughn cleared his throat once more as no one seemed amused. "Uhh, anyways. This base we used would develop the said product, and send them to high-grade military camps, such as the one Rhys was staying at. That's how we met in the first place, through telecoms used to contact each other in case of emergency, like if the product was tarnished and we would have to rework it. Basically asking for more time." Vaughn explained.

"I thought you were a digital banking coding... guy?" Sasha tried to say, obviously forgetting what he actually said he was.

Vaughn shrugged. "Didn't know I could trust you at first, and along the way kind of.. forgot.. to tell you the truth."

"So this... exchange thing, did you have any knowledge on why and what your codes were being used for?" Jack asked, turning his head to the side.

"Unfortunately, no. We weren't getting paid for questions, only to make the products they requested. If I knew what I know now I probably would've had a _lot_ of questions."

"Like if you could be the first volunteer to ride a UFO?" Sasha asked, amused.

"Ye-y- no! Of course not..." He chuckled nervously, shooing away the thought. "Though that would be pretty cool." He admits. Sasha rolls her eyes, a little smirk painting her lips.

Rhys began getting tired of pretending to be asleep, slowly shuffling around as if he was _just_ waking up. "We'll continue this talk later." Fiona whispers, staring at Jack. the man backs off, nodding reluctantly. Rhys opens one eye, scanning the room.

"Well look who's up! Good morning, sunshine!" Jack exaggerates, proceeding to sit-down at the foot of his bed. Rhys gets up to move, but is paused by the soreness of his new _arm_. "Yeah uhh, ya mind telling us what that is?" Jack asks sweetly.

"It's uhh- it's- I honestly can't recall. I just.. made it I guess?" Rhys says with complete honesty.

"Are you sure? Because we just want to know, ya'know, what the hell that is." Jack says, becoming a bit tough as he looks directly into Rhys' eyes. "I want to know _exactly_ who I let into my camp."

Rhys gulps, sweat forming at the nape of his neck. "I-I'm sorry I really don't know. I just knew how!" Rhys assures. "The construction sites, everything, they were secret military bases."

"That's why we were hitting all of them? For your stupid robot arm!" Fiona exclaims. "We lost good people on those runs..."

"I needed this arm! I-I don't know why, but I needed it!" Rhys explained, stammering as he tried his best to at least search for an answer. Something to give them reassurance.

"Listen, kiddo. I'm not saying you're lying, but it's a damn shame you can't remember such an important thing." Jack puts a hand on his knee, patting it lightly. "Gather yourself, because we're gonna be testing that robot arm. Don't think this'll stop you from going back on our deal earlier." Rhys pauses for a second, than nods with Jack.

"I'll be ready. Fi can you-"

"Tell me why you had a robot arm all this time." Fiona deadpans, fists balled up.

"Fi please-"

"Tell me **right** -!"

"We'll discuss this later, ladies." Jack cuts in, standing in front of Fiona.

"I think we deserve ans-"

"We'll further question the prisoner later, okay, princess?" Jack asks, grinning. Fiona glares at him, before giving him a quick nod, proceeding to storm off. Sasha sighs, running after her sister. "Be ready in five, or you'll get your first spanking ever, got that?" Jack teases, slapping his hands together, causing Rhys to jump.

"O-okay.." He quietly responds, gulping.

-

The sun beats down on the two as they sit in a jeep, top removed. Their vehicle continued being stalled at the gate for quite sometime, the men on lookout struggling to unlatch the top. 

"Put your backs into it!" Jack yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Did I appoint men to do that or **little girls'**!"

Rhys felt an idea pop into his head, and unbuckled his seatbelt as he proceeded to get out of the car. Jack almost protested, until he realised what he was up to. Rhys climbed the ladder to the watch-tower, almost slipping as he continued to adjust to the new prosthetic. "Maybe you want to step back." He suggested to them, which they obliged. He gripped onto the latch, getting ready to pull. One pull and his strength gave way, exhausting him. 

Jack found it cute how much he was failing. Even with a robot arm, he couldn't manage _one_ jammed latch. Jack sighed, raking a hand through his hair. He got out of the vehicle, and made his way up there.

"Step aside, honey." He teased, ushering Rhys out of the way. With one hand, Jack started pulling on the latch. And few a few seconds of the force, the latch unlocked, the gate proceeding to slowly open. "Thanks for loosening it up for me." He smiled, winking. Rhys scrunched up his nose, shooing away Jack with a subtle wrist movement.

"I had it, if you had just given me a few more tries." Rhys protested, proceeding to climb down the ladder in a huff.

"Wouldn't want to strain yourself now, would we?" He asked, scoffing at how much of a character the boy was. He shook his head slightly at the blatant silent treatment, proceeding to step down the ladder as well.

They both hoped into the vehicle, buckling up for _'safety'_ as Jack put it. Jack raised his left hand out of the hand, waving once before starting the engine, driving out of _Helios_.

Rhys' mind danced over the fancy name. What an odd thing to name such a camp. "Hey, why'd you name your camp that?" Rhys asked, turning to face Jack.

"It keeps!?" Jack gasps, his lips spreading into a shit eating grin as he looks back at Rhys, eyes half-lidded. Rhys glares, unimpressed. He chuckles, "It's too easy!" He says, tapping a finger on the stirring wheel. He looks back at the road, watching as they pass walkers wandering around. "I named it that because, I don't know, sounds cool. Don't you agree?" 

"I mean, yeah I guess." Rhys agrees. "I guess it's not.. really the first time we've been in a camp with a weird name."

"Oh yeah? Humour me." Jack says, turning left at a stop sign. Rhys shrugs, looking out the window.

"Doesn't matter anymore, pretty sure that camp was overrun a long time ago." Rhys deadpans, sounding almost proud.

"Didn't like it there?" Jack asks.

"Didn't like the people I guess." Rhys explains. "They weren't my type of crowd."

"What? Did they lack bubble baths and scented shampoo?" Jack teased, chuckling. Surprisingly, Rhys laughed back, dying out quickly into a soft chuckle.

"What? No! They just.. I don't know, didn't see me as one of them." Rhys confessed. "Always seemed like I was a liability."

Jack continued looking at him, getting more and more invested in the conversation. He leaned back, one hand on the stirring wheel. "Okay, now you've gotta tell me." Jack exclaimed, unable to hold back his excitement. "What's the camp called?!"

"Okay, it's- **Jack the road!** " Rhys suddenly screamed, the middle of a concrete road broken off. Jack slammed on the brakes, barely stopping in time. the front tires barely stay on road, just inches away from falling down, ultimately submerging into rocky waters. Both of the men huff heavily, eyes wide as they look down at their almost watery grave.

" _Jack the road_ , huh? What an awful name for a camp." Jack jokes, scoffing. As Jack backs up the vehicle, a sudden popping noise erupts out of the blue. He stills the car, killing the engine. Jack emerges out, scanning car for any issues. "Oh, you've gotta be fucking shitting me!" Jack yells in frustration, kicking the side door. Rhys can tell now that the right back tire is currently deflating as he sits, continuing to heavily sigh as he closes his eyes.

"Shit.." He murmurs. Rhys steps out of the car, taking a look at the situation for himself. Jack laces his fingers together, resting both his index's in the middle of his lips, contemplating what to do now.

Before asking the stupid question, Rhys spots no tires in the trunk, nor attached to the trunk door. "This is the Flak bridge, is it not?" Rhys asks. Jack drops his arms, nodding. "So there must be a gas station a few blocks away from here."

"And you know this..?" Jack moves his wrist in a circular motion, giving him the floor. 

Rhys sighs, starting to walk in the direction of the so called gas station. "I used to venture around this area a often with my... Fiancé. Hiking, etcetera."

"Correct me if I'm generalising the word, but holy shit I thought you were gay!" Jack laughed, proceeding to slap his knee. He began noticing the silence, proceeding to attempt to stifle his laugh. "I stand corrected." He giggled. Feigning annoyance, Rhys let a small smirk splay his lips.

"Guess I'm full of surprises." Rhys giddily shrugged his shoulders, a new spring in his steps as he continued walking in front of them. Jack scoffed, astonished at how easily excited the caramel brown haired boy can get. Rhys admits to himself he hasn't felt this good in a long time. Suddenly, his memories come back, and he's flooded by fragments of _his_ face. He continues on with a normal walk, playing it off like the pep in his step died off in a _happy_ sense.

Jack calls bullshit immediately, seeing the telltale signs. "Who was he to you?" He asks. Rhys turns around, almost stopping dead in his tracks. He quirks a brow. "Come on, I've seen it all before."

Rhys sighs. "He was..." Rhys pauses, and Jack expects a sappy monologue about how great he was, just the thought makes him puke. "A fucking asshole." Rhys scoffs, kicking the dirt beneath his feet. Jack scoffs back, taken a-back. "He was manipulative, played the victim all the damn time. And when I chopped off his arm like it was nothing, I hope he felt how much I hate him in those moments." Rhys almost felt the need to smile when reminiscing, deciding that was too sadistic to do in front of someone. He looked up, almost embarrassed. "Anyways, if you expected a sap story sorry to disappoint."

"On the contrary." Jack says, smiling. "He sounds awful. Fuck that guy." Rhys nods in agreement. "He dead or somethin'?"

"Yeah, I killed him." Rhys deadpanned, almost to sound _scary_ , as if he could pull it off.

Jack jerked his shoulders up and down. "Sweet, high five!" Jack raised his hand up.

Rhys gave him a sort of disgusted look, twisting into amusement. "Ew what are you, my dad?" Rhys feigns a throwing up motion.

Jack hollers, laughing. "Come on, champ! Don't leave me hanging." Rhys rolls his eyes, giving in and highfiving him. Jack makes a little motion of success.

"I'm stranded with a lame dad..." Rhys murmurs, facepalming himself. Jack scoffs, walking ahead. Rhys overhears him say 'This kid..' as he tsks while walking by.

"Not for long." Jack points out a tire rack just sitting there in front of the gas station's pumps. Rhys laughs in disbelief, running up to get a better look. "Alright, let's just get what we need and get out of here, it's getting dark." Jack unbuttons his holster, just in case.

Rhys walks up to the tires, spotting a perfect fit. He whips around to see Jack, pulling out his weapon. "Easy now." He grits out, slowly placing his gun on the ground. A tall man stands behind him, a sniper rifle placed against the base of his skull. His face is covered with a black bandana, with one medium sized white stripe to the left of it, either side of the decoration accompanied with red smaller stripes.

"Hands up, Amigo." The man threatens, kicking Jack's gun to the side. Rhys slowly raises up his hands, scanning the area for anything useful. "Eyes up here!" He shouts, grabbing Rhys' full attention. Rhys starts to spot a similarity in his voice, looking through his red stained goggles.

"..Mordecai?" Rhys questions. The man stalls for a moment.

"Rhys?" He asks, baffled. "Damn! Haven't seen you since New Haven!" Mordecai drags Jack over with him, the man beginning to mutter curses. 

"Right? Didn't talk much in the new place, huh." Rhys chums up to the man, smiling. He glimpses down at Jack, whom does not look _good_ at all.

Mordecai reaches for his shoulder, which is intercepted by Rhys grabbing him by the wrist, using his metal palm to jab him in the throat. Mordecai stammers back, dropping his weapon. He tries to swing, getting one jab at Rhys before he twists his arm behind his back, kicking the man to the ground with his leg. "Man, still fall for that, huh?" Rhys chuckles. Mordecai grunts, completely disarmed.

"You were a cat back in the day, and still manage to be one." Mordecai spits. Jack gets up, definitely impressed now. The picture in front of him is too good to be true.

"Yeah, well, old habits die hard." Rhys smirks. "Send my regards when you wake up."

"When I-" Rhys cuts him off with a sharp kick to the head, letting go of his limbs as he goes limp. Rhys spins around, seeing Jack stare at the man on the ground. "He's fine... probably." Rhys shrugs. Jack can't seem to stop staring, trying to process what just happened.

"So this is what it looks like when you get comfortable." Jack scoffs. "I mean, used to be a cat?" He questions.

"Yeah, uhh.. don't get used to it. _This_ isn't permanent, it comes in waves." Rhys tries to act cool, ultimately failing. He rests his hand on the rack, ultimately slipping, falling over.

"There he is!" Jack teasingly exclaims. "Was wondering where ye 'ol Rhysie was." 

As Rhys' face continued to face the other direction, the nickname went pang in his heart. He got up, dusting himself off. "Let's just get what we need and go." He repeated from earlier, awkwardly smiling. Deep down, he felt his body start to tremble, the nickname just not sitting right with him. Jack raised a brow, before brushing it off like nothing. He grabbed a proper tire, grabbed what they could find at the gas station, and headed back. Without being interrupted by the dead, surprisingly.

-

The ride back was quiet, passing a few jokes between each other from time to time, but not much was exchanged. Jack noticed how secluded the boy became, mainly sticking to looking out the window. The gates swung open, and immediately Rhys raced out of the car, jumping into the arms of Sasha. He began laughing with the girl as they exchanged words. Jack sighed, allowing the many others to carry the haul into the storage unit.

"Dad!" A girl exclaimed as she raced over to him. She jumped into his arms, sighing in contempt as he started laughing with her.

"Angel! How's my girl?" He asked lovingly, putting her down. He cupped his hands on her cheeks, looking into her deep blue eyes.

"Feeling much better." She responded, smiling.

"That's good to hear." He responded. Angel turned to look at Sasha and Rhys, confusion painting her features.

"Who are you?" She asked, specifically to Rhys. The man cleared his throat, smiling back at her.

"I'm Rhys, uhh I uhm-"

"He's going to be staying with her, sweetheart, and the rest of his group." Jack says, holding back a chuckle or three as Rhys stammers on.

Angel grabs hold of Rhys' hand, continuing to smile. "I have a feeling we're going to be great friends." 

Rhys chuckles. "I do, too. Very strong grip." Rhys jokes, earning a laugh from Angel.

"I get it from my dad." She rolls her eyes. "At least that's what he always says."

"Are you sure? 'Cause yours is a whole lot stronger." Rhys asks in disbelief, looking back at Jack whom looks completely in awe.

'I've never seen her act this way to others before..' Jack admits to himself.

"Do you want to see some of my metal scrapes I've found?" She asks, still holding onto his flesh hand.

"Why would- how did you know I had a metal arm?" He asks, looking down at his other arm, hidden by his long-sleeved shirt.

Angel shrugged. "It's kind of obvious."

Rhys huffed. "Is it really?" Angel nodded in response, chuckling. "Well I guess you'll just have to show me your metal collection." Rhys shrugged. Angel led him off, explaining the stories of how she found them all. Rhys' eyes sparkled in interest, completely infatuated.

Jack sighed, watching them go. His over-protectiveness almost overpowered him, but refrained from doing so. "Jack." Fiona deadpanned. He sighed, looking her way.

"Just a day without you wanting to chat would be a blessing, babe." Jack sighs. "Is this about Rhys? Because I said later."

"I'm pretty sure it's been later." Fiona responded. Jack looked her in the eyes, eyebrows raised.

"Well shouldn't Rhys be apart of this?" He asks. Fiona softly shakes her head.

"This is about the message that played." Fiona said softly. "Vaughn and I quickly figured it out."

"Oh yeah? I'm all ears." Jack crosses his arms over his chest.

"18 8 25 19... it's Rhys' name." Jack's eyes widen, brows immediately furrowing.

"Wait.. but if he built it.. well that's just impossible." His mind went a thousand miles per hour. "And I just.. let him near **my daughter**."

"Something's going on.." Fiona gulped, starting to question everything. "What- what do you think?-"

"I... don't know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy! How's it going?
> 
> Hope you liked it.. :)
> 
> My other notes go for this one too! Sorry for inaccuracy of curtain things, grammatical, and misspelt words!
> 
> Dreams: A few weeks after their fight.
> 
> See ya. <3


	3. Where To Begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the zombie apocalypse, Rhys is just barely hanging on with a few others in his group. With just one arm, he renders himself useless and asks that his group- his family leaves him behind. Just when the herd is drawing near, he sees a light, a group of others charging in, ripping apart the dead with gunfire. His eyes are half-lidded as he sees a tall strong statured figure stand above him, standing behind the lifeless reanimated corpse about to naw on his face, tearing the walkers skull open with a yellow handled machete. Rhys swears he feels like the man’s smirking as he looks down upon him. Whoever this man is, he starts to feel a little bit safer knowing he just saved his whole group.
> 
> Or  
> —  
> Rhys and his group are saved by a man and his group. The man, Jack, says he has a camp called Helios with supplies and resources. What’s better than nothing? Something.

Rhys sits down on the girl's bed, admiring the trinkets scattered around the walls and her room. He runs his flesh hand through the fuzzy blankets he's resting on, the purple hue pleasing to his eyes. Angel hands him a metal ball, gushing over the story behind how she got it. He smiles with contempt, valuing the little things in the moment.

"Dad almost kicked it away, but this little guy just had to go into my pocket." She cheers, picking it up from out of his hand to return it to the little place of her stand. "And I think that's all the metal things I have!"

"Wow, that's some collection." He chuckles, continuing to look around. Angel begins to nervously shuffle around, sitting down next to him. She plays with the hems from one of the torn holes on her jeans, looking down in her lap. Rhys quirks a brow, having a sinking suspicion on what the question weighing on her might be. "What is it?" He asks softly.

"I want to know.. where did you get that metal arm?" Angel aks. "If you don't want to answer, I understand. It's just- I've never seen anything like it before. I wasn't even sure if it was possible yet!" Angel stammers on. "I've seen robot arms before, but nothing as smooth and advanced as this!"

"I... don't know. I wish I did." Rhys sighs, robot arm resting in his lap. "Truth is, I didn't _really_ build it, it was given to me. The only thing I really did was tighten up screws and enter in an activation code I somehow knew." Rhys proceeds to lay down, raising his metal hand up, staring at the details. Angel lays down next to him, looking through the light escaping through his metal fingers.

"How long was the code?" Angel asks. 

Rhys closes his eyes, thinking back. "Seven. It was a seven digit code." Rhys recalls. "I put it in.. and it was activated." He smoothly balls his hand into a fist, slowly letting it go as if a psychical arm.

"Do you know what that represents?" Angel asks, looking back at him. Rhys shakes his head, a quizzical look on his face. "Have you thought about what might be _spelled_ with seven letters?"

"Well, Fiancé is six, so-"

"Engaged is seven." Angel adds. "Could that be..?"

"But why would that be the code? I don't even know why it's there." Rhys runs a finger past his brow, sighing.

"What were the numbers?"

"722016.." Rhys looks around the ceiling, forgetting the last digit. "I'm not sure if it was a letter of a number." He sighs.

"Could 2016 mean something?" Angel tries to think, possibilities endless. 

Rhys sits up, a hand to his forehead. "But that doesn't make any sense. It-it-" 

"Rhys, why are you crying?" Angel asks, worry plastered on her face. Rhys looks at her with a raised brow, slowly bringing his hand down to his cheeks. He felt streams dampen his cheeks.

"I-I don't know.. I just feel this pain in my chest for some reason. It means nothing to me, the year, I just.. I don't understand why I'm feeling this way." Rhys' lips quiver, holding his chest. "My heart hurts so much. This emotional pain... it's suffocating." He chokes out. "I-I never loved him.. why am I in so much pain?" Rhys asks himself, tears streaming down his face. Angel places a hand on his back.

"Rhys, what are you saying?" Angel asks, confused as to why he's so upset.

Suddenly, murmuring echoes out through Rhys' sobbing. "Do you hear that?" Rhys asks.

"Hear what, Rhys?" Angel returns, confused and extremely worried.

"Oh.." Rhys realises. "It's nothing." He continued. He began to cry more, Angel pulling him into a hug.

Rhys looks down, remembering an altercation he must've had a while back with someone.

 _"What am I supposed to say to that, Rhys?!"_ The unfamiliar voice exclaims, voice raising ever so higher the more he speaks.

_"Nothing!" Rhys exclaims back, on the brink of tears. "It's my decision.. you don't get it!"_

_"I don't? You think you should've told me before you decided on this? I'll never fucking see you again, baby!" His voice broke ever so slightly, still enraged._

_"You don't know that!" Rhys tried explaining, tears pricking his eyes. "Just because it's experimental doesn't mean I'm never coming back."_

_"Rhys.. please, don't do this."_

_"I'm sorry.."_

His mind raced at every word, wiping away his tears. "I don't remember that ever happening..." Rhys murmured. He stood up, walking towards the door.

"Rhys?" Angel furrowed her brows. "What's wrong."

"I'm sorry if I scared you, Angel.. I'm just going to go clear my head." He tried a smile, temporarily failing until he flashed a small one. As he opened the door, Jack stood in front of him, baffled.

"Hey, kiddo." Jack blurts out, scoffing. Jack outstretches his neck to give Angel a gummy smile, who waves awkwardly back. "On your way out?" Rhys nods slowly. "Care to join me? We got some talking to do."

Rhys barges past him, trying to remotely rub away the remnants of his tears. "I'm not in the mood right now, I'll swing by later." Rhys finishes, thinking that's all he has to say. He starts hearing gravel crunching behind him, turning around to see Jack following him.

"No can do! Your group and I need to chat pronto." Jack returns, walking side-by-side with him. Rhys rolls his eyes, thanking the night time light for hiding his puffy eyes.

"Look, I get you all have questions, but I'm not so sure I can answer them." Jack grabs Rhys by his arm, stopping them both in their tracks. "Hey-"

"I don't give a shit if you don't feel like it right now. You're coming with me, _Rhysie_." Jack proceeded to drag him by his arm towards the building his group was staying at.

For a reason unknown, alarm bells started ringing in Rhys' head, nearly on the brink of crying again. "No! Stop! I can't go right now!" He pushed his feet into the ground, pulling against Jack's strength. The man's pace proceeded normally, as if Rhys' tries were useless. "Jack, please! You asshole!" Rhys cried, trying to pry the man's hand off him.

"Why're you getting your panties in a twist, kid?" Jack scoffed, stopping for a moment.

"I can't go in there..." Rhys tries, lowering his head. "I just.. can't. I can't face them right now."

Jack raises a brow, looking him up and down in disbelief. "Jeez.." He says under his breath. "What's so fucking bad about going in there?"

Rhys pauses, unsure what to say. "Just.. ask them now. Right here."

Jack scoffs. "Really? You want to do this right fucking-"

"Just ask, Jack!" Rhys exclaims.

"Okay, okay." Jack stands back, letting go of Rhys' arm. "Just answer me this; what's so bad about answering your friends' questions? Don't ya think they deserve to know the truth?" Jack asked, a mellow smile on his face.

Rhys looked up to meet Jack's eyes, looking through them as if to find something. He couldn't point to what he was looking for, nor could he begin to find it. He sighed, almost unable to answer. "I want to tell them to you." Rhys deadpans, furrowing his brows, as did the same for Jack. "Only you." Rhys felt a shiver snake up his spine. Saying those few words felt so right to him, he just couldn't understand why.

Jack returned the look Rhys kept giving him, staring back into his eyes. "Okay, if that's what you want." Jack returned, smiling. "Let's go to my office, we'll talk there." Rhys nodded in agreement, following Jack as the man proceeded to walk towards the correct direction.

-

"So let me get this straight." Jack deadpanned, swirling around the alcohol in his chiselled drinking glass. "You have no fucking clue why you have the arm, but you might be starting to remember?" Jack recited.

"Yes." Rhys simply responded, shrugging his shoulders. Jack snorted, chugging down the burning whiskey. "I barely knew the combination to activate it. I guess when I lost my arm, the need to activate it just came to me."

"What I still don't understand is why this _divine power_ chose a slinky twink like you." Jack chuckled, pouring more liquid into his glass. "I mean, jeez kiddo, what's so special about you?" Jack asks.

"Nothing's special about me, I just worked in a super secret base I guess. Maybe that's why my memory is gone." Rhys answered, shrugging.

"Is that the only thing you can't remember? Your time at the military camp?" Jack asked, putting down the glass. He danced his fingers over the clasps on his mask, making sure they were secure.

"I remember some things, but nothing important." Rhys tries to recall, looking up at Jack. Rhys shrugged slightly again. 

_"The..... may be..... permanent."_ A muffled voice soared through Rhys' mind. His eyes widened, slamming his hands over his ears to shield them.

"What the fuck?!" He whispered to himself. Jack stood up from his chair, walking towards him.

"Hey, you alright?" Jack asks, putting a hand on his shoulder. "What's with the freak out, dum-dum."

"N-Nothing, I just thought I heard something." Rhys stammered.

"Nobody here but us, babe." Jack teased. Rhys rolled his eyes, a subtle flush spreading through his cheeks. "You blush _soo_ easily, Rhys." Jack grins. Rhys makes eye content with him, heating up even more.

"No I don't!" Rhys exclaims, hitting Jack on the arm. The man staggers back, hands up in surrender.

"Easy with the swings, cupcake. Don't want you hurting yourself." Rhys rolls his eyes, sitting up from his chair. Jack puts a hand on Rhys' shoulder, slowly sitting him back down. "Where do you think you're going?" Jack quirks a brow, grinning wildly.

"Aren't we done talking? I told you everything I know." Rhys said, confused.

Jack stares down at him, studying his face. "What was the code you punched into your arm again?" Jack asked.

"722016..? I already told you I forget the last digit." Rhys recited, getting more confused the longer Jack continued star down at him. Jack rested his thumb and index on his chin, thinking over the numbers.

"Do you have even the slightest idea what it might be?" Rhys responded with a shrug, triggering Jack to roll his eyes. "If you shrug one more time Rhys-"

"R.." Rhys deadpanned, realisation hitting him. "I vaguely remember letters at the bottom of the number pad. I-I think I pressed R."

"Could we potentially reenter the code?" Rhys shook his head in response. "Why not?"

"After I typed the code in, the keypad retracted into the arm. The only way of getting it is if we pry the arm off, and I don't think it's built to do that." Jack sighed, closing his eyes for a second. There was a deeper meaning behind the sigh, Rhys could feel it. He stood up, looking up into Jack's eyes. "What aren't you telling me, Jack." He asked softly, a endearing voice creeping out. Jack could almost wish his hand was on his cheek, so he could put his own on it.

" _'Thank you for activating, subject #1882519'_..." Jack quoted word for word, closing his eyes. "That's what your arm said while you were passed out." Jack scoffed, almost in denial. Rhys knitted his brows together, in shock. "I know, it doesn't make any sense."

"What the fuck does that even mean.. I'm a _subject_ " Rhys worriedly murmured, holding his hand up to rest on his chest. Rhys felt himself close off, completely and utterly scared. "Why is this happening..?"

"Kid, whatever it is, we'll figure it out." Jack smiled refreshingly, placing three pats on Rhys' shoulder.

"Can I hug you..?" Rhys shakily whispered, too quiet to hear.

Jack turned his head to hear better, quirking a brow. "What'd you say, pumpkin? Can you what?" Jack hid his teasing manner through a convincing question, acting like he didn't hear a word.

Rhys sighed. "Nothing, I'm just a little tired 'is all." Rhys meekly walked around Jack, heading towards the door.

Jack grabbed Rhys' hand, spinning him around. He reeled him into a soft embrace, _hugging_ him. "Is this what you wanted, pumpkin?" Jack asked, smiling softly. Rhys hesitantly rested his hands at the base of Jack's broad back, holding back a sigh of relief.

"Yes, uhh.. thanks." Rhys nervously said, taking in the man's scent.

"Is there a stick in your pocket, or..?" Rhys pushed him away by his shoulders, rolling his eyes.

"That's the last time I ask you for a hug." Rhys says in disappointment, Jack breaking down into a fit of laughter.

A man bursts through the door, panic written in his eyes. "Mike I appreciate your enthusiasm, but this office is for pretty boys only." Jack teases, directing a wink at Rhys.

"T-The gate won't close! They're getting in!" Mike stammers, streaks of blood now clear on his clothing. Rhys straightened up, looking at Jack who was currently looking at the panicked man.

"I'll help-"

"No." Jack firmly stated, putting his arm out in the way of Rhys. "Stay here, my office is the safest thing right now. In a little while I'll bring your friends and my daughter in here." In the process of gathering up words for protest, Rhys' lips were pressed together as Jack placed his index finger over his lips. "There's a gun in the first draw at the top on my desk, kitten. And if you're feeling handsy, my favourite machete is below the gun. Please don't lose it." He grinned, the corners of his eyes crinkling in the process. Another curious thing was how he could express in depth emotion through the mask he wore. Rhys studied his features, before he ultimately left to take action against the intruding dead. Rhys took a step back, the door shutting shortly behind the _Mike_ man. He held a hand to his heart, undeniably feeling the guilt from the glare he directed towards the man.

"His mask.." Rhys pondered, touching his own face. He traced over the parts which would hold clasps on the other's. "Must have some sort of magnet embedded in his skin, what I can't figure out is how the mask acts as a, well, _face_.." He whispered to himself, hands gliding gently towards his eyes. "His eyes.." Rhys' breath was cut short, as he could imagine them once again. The bold colours of green and blue mixing into his mind. Ugh, Rhys hated those heterochromatic eyes. "For once can a guy that isn't an asshole have the same pair he has?!" Rhys quietly exclaimed, sitting down on the same _asshole's_ office chair. He spun around a couple times, guiltily feeling like a little kid.

Shortly after, Angel came in, explaining his friends were outside helping out. Rhys slumped down in the chair, feeling useless. "I just don't get why they insist on leaving me out of things." Rhys sighed.

Angel scanned him with her eyes head to toe, giving him an unbelieving look. "Rhys.. you're built like a little boy and have sticks for arms." She blatantly admitted. "They probably don't want you out there for your own safety."

Rhys was in the fighting mood, a burning sensation sizzling underneath his skin. "I can be useful! I got my team this far, didn't I?" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in an over dramatic way. Angel couldn't help but try to hide a snicker.

"I'm sorry I can't take you seriously right now.. my dad could bench press a thousand of you." Angel chuckled.

"That's just unrealistic!" Rhys growled, his anger turning into a playful manner. An idea struck within him. "I'd let your dad bench press me any day, and some. Let's just say getting bench pressed wouldn't be the only-" Rhys paused intentionally with a suggestive smirk, giving Angel a wink, causing her to pretend to throw up.

"You win!" Angel yells in defeat, a grossed out expression written all over her face. "Yuck, why'd you give me that image in my head?!" Rhys became flustered, the obvious playful washed off completely as his imagination went to work. "Jeez, I'd say you're more of a tomato than the real deal! Do you seriously have a crush on my dad?"

Rhys swatted a hand at Angel, coughing. "Of course not! He's an asshole!" Rhys denied, chalking it up as just another one of his fleeting thoughts. "Besides, I-I could be straight, you don't know that!" Angel paused, looking Rhys up and down, bursting into laughter. "Okay.. I guess you're right." Rhys sighed, chuckling with her. He let go of any tension, and brought himself up from the chair, sitting next to Angel on the desk.

"Sorry, I guess I got the playfulness from my dad. It's a habit." Angel sighed, wiping a tear from her eye.

Rhys placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's fine, I get my bursts from my mom. But of course I get my embarrassment from my dad." He sighed, crossing his legs. Rhys snickered before continuing. "I just wish I could be a bad bitch without regretting it later."

Angel laughed with him, proceeding to put her index fingers together in front of her, thumbs sticking out. "I want to be a bad bitch but I'm kind of shy." She mocked. Rhys swore he never pummelled someone so fast, giggling. Angel chuckled deviously, knowing full well how cringey she was being.

"Angel you're evil!" He yelped, cheeks burning up. "I hate that you're not wrong." He sighed, giving her one last pat to the head. "Teach me how to be a bad bitch." He sighed, holding up his hands.

"My dad would literally crucify me." Angel chuckled. "He's pretty strict, but I'm glad we can be normal goofs together." She sighed in contempt, smiling at Rhys. He smiled back, holding on to his right ring finger on impulse. "Rhys?" Angel asked as he spaced out.

"Huh? Oh, sorry." He smiled nervously. "I get lost sometimes.." He trailed off, letting go of his fingers as he rested his hands on either side of him. "So.. I hope everything's okay out there." He scoffed. Angel nodded in response. "Maybe I should check out there..?" Rhys asked both her and himself, peeking over to see not one, but three guns taped to the bottom of the desktop. 

"Maybe that's not a very good idea.." Angel mutters, lacing her fingers together. "I don't know how to handle a weapon, if you leave me alone I'll be defenceless."

Rhys put his metal hand over Angel's, looking at her as he warmly smiled. "Don't worry, I'll just take a peek. I promise." His hand slipped off from hers, going around to grab one of the many guns. He picked the smallest out of the bunch, which was still fairly big. He tiptoed over to the door, slowly grabbing for the doorknob. He swung it open slowly, a breath of relief escaping his lips as nothing was waiting on the other side. He turned around, smiling at Angel. "See, nothing here!"

Angel's face twisted into horror as she peered behind him. Rhys' face turned quizzical. "Rhys, behind-!"

A solid metal object clashed into the back of his head, dropping him down to the ground like a sack of bricks. A sharp blackness consumed Rhys, pulling him into unconsciousness. He heard muffled altercations, three thuds, scattered glass, two gunshots, and than nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyy, thank you for your patience while waiting for chapter 3!! Hope you enjoy. :)
> 
> See ya. <3


	4. It's Not That Simple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the zombie apocalypse, Rhys is just barely hanging on with a few others in his group. With just one arm, he renders himself useless and asks that his group- his family leaves him behind. Just when the herd is drawing near, he sees a light, a group of others charging in, ripping apart the dead with gunfire. His eyes are half-lidded as he sees a tall strong statured figure stand above him, standing behind the lifeless reanimated corpse about to naw on his face, tearing the walkers skull open with a yellow handled machete. Rhys swears he feels like the man’s smirking as he looks down upon him. Whoever this man is, he starts to feel a little bit safer knowing he just saved his whole group.
> 
> Or  
> —  
> Rhys and his group are saved by a man and his group. The man, Jack, says he has a camp called Helios with supplies and resources. What’s better than nothing? Something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/W: This chapter involves parts that are highly sensitive, and I don't recommend people who are triggered easily to read further. I’m sorry for what’s to come, truly. :(  
> This chapter deals with r/pe/non-con, and the aftermath. Come future chapters this will be resolved, but will be stuck for a little while  
> throughout the series, due to the main characters trauma. Thank you.

Rhys opened his eyes slowly, the rattling of chains echoing in what appeared to be a cell-block or storage unit. He cursed under his breath, seemingly alone. His heart raced up to his chest, struggling to fully open his eyes. He pushed himself up with the little strength he had, groaning with every subtle movement. His heart continued pounding, refusing to let up. His eyes adjusted to his surroundings, scanning the room for anybody else who might give him an answer. Suddenly, Rhys heard footsteps approaching. Too scared of an altercation, Rhys quickly got back down on the ground, closing his eyes.

"We got a good looking prisoner to trade, eh?" An older man snickered, unlocking the door with a final click. The other man with him grunted, pushing past him.

"Don't let your dick do _all_ the talking, Ramsay, we've got shit to do." The younger man spewed, dragging a metal chair a cross the floor. The grinding on metal jolted Rhys _awake_ , heart continuing to race. "Ah, you're awake." The man sighed in relief. "Knocked you good, we were worried whether or not you were dead."

"Oh, we'd know." _Ramsay_ corrected, playing with the aluminum bat in his hand. Rhys gulped, sitting up straight.

"W-What do you want..?" Rhys asked, voice shattered. 

Ramsay grunted. "God, he's cute when he-"

"Shut your mouth, Ram." The man shooed him away, rolling his eyes. He looked over at Rhys, an endearing smile on his face. "Sorry you have to be in the middle of his, kid. We just want to make an arrangement with your group leader." The man continued. "Ya see, back when _Helios_ started, we were the main contributors of the camp. Finding supplies and all kinds of things." The man paused, standing up slowly. Rhys felt intimidated, almost pressured to cry. "We thought, if we continued providing, we deserve some.. _rewards_." Rhys' heart stopped as the man trailed his gaze up and down him, appearing to be lost in the moment. "We preferred.. meat. Kind of in a.. cannibalistic way if you will." He grinned, a throaty chuckle escaping. "Now, we gave it a try on some ol' woman, _got her good_." He trailed off, thoughts swarming. "His daughter, _Angel_ , caught us..." He deadpanned, staring down at him. "We tried to quiet her, hell even tried to rough her up a bit. Until.." He finally blinked, unable to previously. His faded smile soon returned, scraping it back up into a grin. He returned to his main objective in mind. "Now, Jack didn't like that, hell even threw us out!" He exclaimed, eyes still on Rhys. "After that, we waited for the right moment, snipped those stupid metal wires, and started slowly invading." The man suddenly sprung up, reaching behind his chair to drag a dead carcass into the open. Rhys flinched, trying to keep calm. the stench filled his senses, making his eyes sting and water. "We used some guts from these ugly bitches, pulled out our guns, and watched the fireworks explode as clueless gunmen lost a fight to a bunch of _zombies_." His eyes glimmered, reliving the moment. He snapped out of his phase, dragging the body out of his way. He knelt down in front of Rhys, grinning wildly. "Went to his office, obviously." He playfully rolled his eyes. "And snatched up the tastiest little thing we could find. Hell, even tried to nab his little girl. Bitch grabbed a gun and got one of my guys. Ran into his big fuckin' closet and locked herself in!" He grunted in distaste. Rhys turned his head away slightly in disdain, a shiver running up his entire body.

Rhys cleared his throat, struggling to look him in the eyes. "Okay, so what's your plan?" Rhys deadpans. A lump rests in his throat, dreading every moment he stays here. The man eyed him down, a telling glare in his eyes.

"Well, we can't just leave you in _mint_ condition now, can we?" He shoots a suggestive look at Ramsay, who grins wildly. "Gotta give you a few bruises at least!" Ramsay slowly makes his way towards the two, a dark gloom washing over the room. Rhys’ lips start to tremble as the two stand above him, like hefty predators.

“P-Please, you don’t have to do this.” Rhys tries to reason, eyes glassy. He slowly scoots away from the two, who proceed to step closer towards him.

“You’re right.” Ramsay agrees, still grinning. “But _we_ want to.” He deadpans. Rhys’ eyes let out streams of tears, his figure trembling.

The unnamed man pats Ramsay on the shoulder. "Nah, it's just you." He looks away. "Sorry, kid, it's not my decision, it's the boss'. Hell, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now if I was in charge."

“Now, just corporate and we won’t have to-“

Rhys shoves the man, Ramsay, blocking him, hurriedly staggering up to his feet. He curses as his head hits the cement floor. He barges past the other, just inches away from the exit, door ajar. Ramsay grabs a tuft of his hair, yanking him back. Rhys’ eyes widen as he hits the ground, a heavy body proceeding to get on top of him. the unnamed man flinches, tsking in disgust. "Do you really have to be _that_ fucking rough?!" Rhys swipes at Ramsay’s face, scratching a deep mark into his cheek.

“Aurgh! You fucking bitch!” Ramsay yells, striking Rhys across the face. Rhys flinches at the pain, continuing to struggle around. Ramsay grabs at Rhys’ wrists, struggling to keep him down. “Hold him still!” The man orders, grabbing at Rhys’ shirt.

Rhys screams, using every bit of leverage he can to get free. He spots eyes and a gummy smile as his clothes are torn off his body. His eyes dart to the unnamed man standing there, look of horror on his face. "Help me! Please!" Rhys begs. The man inches closer, suddenly frozen in place as a gun clicks from outside. "I am so fucking sorry.." He whispers to Rhys. An unknown voice tells the man to step out of the room, the man complying. He continues screaming and thrashing his legs as he sobs, his humanity scrubbed brutally clean with a barbed wire rag, scratching and yanking at his soul until completely raw and broken. His body goes limp as he feels himself lose touch with reality, his mind unable to let himself consciously go any further. His complexion grows solemn as he concentrates on his now slow heartbeat, tears continuing to flow down his cheeks. He feels bruises being made on his body as the man beats him, making sure his sheel is tarnished enough to be noticeable.

“Why...” The words echo in his mind, eyes dull, devoid of any light.

-

The final hues of smoke clears as Jack shoots the last psycho in the leg, rushing over to the crumpled over man. As he approaches the man, he breaks out into a fit of laughter. "What's so fucking funny, asshole." Jack spits, kicking him over onto his back. the dirty man groans, hands reaching to his leg. Jack notices a bloody hand-print smeared across his face. "So, you're a fucking bloodshot, huh? Damn, thought I told you dum-dums to stay away." Jack scoffed, baffled.

"Well," The man spit out a clout of blood, "Couldn't pass up the opportunity for a chance at _taking_ something.." The man started laughing, his suggestive words like poison. Jack looked at him, worry setting in.

"What the fuck did you do." Jack deadpanned. Without an answer, Jack pulled the trigger, unloading three bullets into his skull. Jack darted towards the direction of his office.

"Jack!" Sasha called out, failing to stop him. Sasha turned back, focused on the matter at hand. "Alright, let's sweep the area, and close that stupid gate."

"Spare wires are in the back of the storage unit." One of the guards added.

Vaughn nodded. "I'll give you a hand."

Jack's heart sunk as he spotted his office door ajar, blood splatters just in view. He raced over, stabilising himself with the doorframe. "Angel?!" Jack exclaimed, on the brink of hyperventilation. He followed the blood, relieved to see who is belonged to. The lock from his closet clicked open, he stared in anticipation. Angel slowly made her way out, tearing up as she spotted her father. "Oh, Angel.." Jack said in relief, endearment in his eyes. He charged towards her, pulling her into a tight embrace. Angel began crying, holding on to Jack tightly.

"Dad, oh god.." Her voice shook, sighing shakily. 

"It's okay, I'm here now." He stroked her head, softly pulling her away. He rested his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. "Angel, where's Rhys?" Jack asked.

Angel held her head low, sobbing harder. "They.. dad they.. they took him.." She struggled out, heart breaking. Jack's eyes widened, straightening up his posture. He pulled his daughter back into the hug, holding her close. He continued stroking her hair until Angel regained her composure, no longer crying.

As the three made their rounds, helping each other with the reinforcements required to ensure the safety of everyone within the walls, Sasha had a terrible gut feeling start to boil up. Unable to let it linger any longer, she made her way towards Jack's office.Her eyes widened as things turned for the worse. Sasha sprinted into the room as she spotted the vague blood splatters exiting out of Jack's office from outside. "Where's Rhys?!" She exclaimed in confusion, mind running a thousand miles per hour. Jack stayed silent, continuing to hold his daughter close to him. He traced the room with his eyes, thinking the situation through thoroughly. "Jack, where is he!"

"They took him." Jack deadpanned, still lost in his thoughts. Sasha balled her fists up as Jack faced his back to her, unmoving. She wondered if Jack even had the balls to face her.

"Is that all you have-"

"Don't take it personally, I'm thinking." Jack added, slowly letting go of Angel. "Sweetie, could you go to our apartment room?" Jack asked fondly, looking down at his perfect daughter. He eyed her complexion down to every detail, continuing to check if she was still safe and okay.

Angel nodded. "Sure." She slowly made her way out of the room, shooting Sasha a sincere sympathetic look.

Shortly after, silence filled the room, Sasha looking intently at the turned man. whom stayed still with his index and thumb clasped on his chin.

"Jack, you need to tell me who these people are." She sternly ordered, clenching her fists harder. "And where they are."

"They call themselves _Bloodshots_." Jack answered, turning around to face the frustrated, concerned woman. "Those _filthy bandits_ tried to harm my daughter before they were kicked out a while ago. They're lucky I let them." He scoffed.

"Why did you?" Sasha asks, baffled. "If they're really that awful, why did you do it?"

"Back then... my- _I_ wanted to keep my humanity, a moral code. After I beat the ever living _shit_ out of them, I threw them out like garbage." Jack recalled. "If I was the man I am today, their undead heads would be propped up on pikes for everyone to see.."

"You say that but haven't told me where their camp is." Sasha slammed her fist on his desk, waiting for Jack to speak up. He remained studying her face, slowly proceeding to cross his arms over his chest.

"They'll come to us." Jack stated, walking passed Sasha and proceeded to walk out of the room, inches away from the doorframe. Sasha parted her lips to speak, Jack sighed. "Listen, I honestly don't know what they've done to him, or where they're camp is, but you can be rest assured they won't get away with this."

Sasha felt like sighing, she couldn't comprehend why. Whether it was out of anger, or frustration, she couldn't pinpoint it. What she could feel was fear. Heaps of it. A shiver sprang up her spine as a bad feeling washed over her entirety.

"Oh, Rhys.." She clutched her face in her palms, shoulders lowering as her breath caught in her throat. Her eyes eventually pricked with tears, though she began begging herself not to cry, enforcing a rule for her to be strong.

"Sash?" Vaughn asked from beyond the doorway, shock riddling his tone. He noticed the blood immediately, making sure he didn't see a limp Rhys on the floor. He sighed in a sort of relief, though confusion set in as he couldn't find Rhys within the room at all. Sasha uncovered her face, eyeing Vaughn in the front while Fiona stood behind him. "What's going on? Where's Rhys?"

they both approached her, Fiona putting a hand on her back. Sasha let out a shaky breath, words like metal against her teeth. "These bandits named "Bloodshots" took him. Jack said he doesn't know what they'll do to him but, oh God.." Sasha's voice broke, a heavy hand resting on her heart. "I promised him we'd get out of this, that he would never have to be in pain ever again." Fiona embraced her sister, sighing softly. Vaughn stood there, pondering the possibilities.

"Whatever happens, we're ready to fight." Fiona assured, rubbing a gentle hand in circles on her back. "Don't worry, Sash."

"I care about him a lot, Fi." Sasha sighed, wiping her beginning tears away. "He's like a big brother to me."

"I know." Fiona said with endearment, brushing the few stray strands of hair out of her face. "Let's get out of this room and into ours, get you some rest." Fiona grabbed hold of her hand, guiding her towards the exit. Sasha nodded, sighing softly.

As Fiona and Sasha made their way out, Vaughn stayed put, slowly beginning to scan the room. He searched the desk for any _clues_ as to where Rhys is being held, a sharp realisation of the fact that it's definitely not in Jack's office desk.

Vaughn looked around, eyes landing on the dead body laid before him. An awful idea sprung into place as he continued staring at the decaying man on the floor. He groaned. "I hate this idea." Vaughn admitted to himself, approaching it as he crouched down at the level of the corpse. He removed the embedded fork jabbed into his forehead, tossing it to the side. He checked the shirt pocket, finding lint and a new wrapped mint candies. He proceeded to check the front jean pockets of the man, finding a wallet and some _condoms_ in the other. Vaughn retreated in disgust, wiping his hands on his pant leg. He settled for the wallet, searching through it. He rolled his eyes, the purse loaded with semi-clean money, most bloodied.

"Don't think that'll get you anything in this world, pal." He _told_ the man, continuing his search. He discovered a red trimmed card, interior painted in blinding white. Medium black text decorated the card with messy hand writing, reading "bridge, gas, bus, that's how you get to us". Vaughn raised a quizzical brow.

"What does that even mean?" Vaughn asked himself. He felt a sudden pang of realisation as he thought it over. "Flak bridge, the gas station, and the abandoned school bus blocking the road." He scoffed, baffled at this discovery. He thrusted his fist up in the air. "Point 1 for me, point 0 for you." He lowered his arm to point directly at the rotting man, a smirk splayed on his lips.

-

Jack reloaded his gun, a fresh mind now that he has information on where exactly they're held up at. "Nice day for a slaughter, eh?" Jack said, adjusting the collar of his white long sleeved shirt, the tight fabric hugging his best features. He looked at himself in the mirror, wiping down his smooth masked complexion. He checked the sustainability of the masks clasps, appearing to be in good shape.

"Do you even care?" Fiona mumbled, leaning on the doorframe to his room. She looked around, scoffing, his apartment greatly larger and more furnished than the rest. She turned her attention back on Jack, the man still adjusting his cloths and gelling up his hair. "You gonna be any longer?" Fiona asked impatiently, tapping her index finger on her bent elbow as she continued having her arms crossed over her chest.

"Just powdering my nose." Jack responded teasingly, adjusting the holster on his thigh. He took one more look at himself, then made his way over to Fiona, passing her. "Don't mean tah embarrass you, sweetheart, but your panties are in a twist." Jack flashed a wink at the woman as he turned around to see her face. More specifically, her reaction. She gave him an unimpressed, darting glare, flipping him off.

As they made their way towards the front gates, doors swinging closed behind them, they noticed an unfamiliar van parked outside their gates. "Hey, Mike!" Jack yelled at the man, startling him. He stalled in place, inches away from pulling the latch. "Don't fucking open that gate!" Jack ordered, sprinting to the front, Fiona following closely.

"But sir, they said-"

"I don't give to flying fucks if they called you pretty! Do not open that fucking gate!" Jack hounded, unbuttoning his holster. Jack remembered it like it was yesterday, the way he threw the six guys into the white van in awful conditions. Bones broken, face beaten into unrecognisable conditions, he took in a fresh breath of air as he remembered how they struggled to breathe. "If only I was the man I am today.." He recited, a different look in his eyes. He scoffed, shaking his head softly. The men currently manning the entrance began swarming together both on the ground and in the towers, standing guard as they held their guns in high alert.

A man began exiting the vehicle, slamming the door shut behind him. Jack clicked his tongue, pressing his thumb down on the hammer of his gun. "That's a little cheeky, don't ya think?" Jack stated, quirking a brow as he tilted his head to the side, studying the stranger's face.

The man proceeded to bring his head up, loosening the bandana covering his mouth. Jack's eyes widening a bit, but stayed unsurprised, rubbing it aside as the inevitable. "How's-a-going Helios?!" He said with enthusiasm, approaching the gates.

"been five years and you still don't learn." Jack fired a warning shot at the ground, marking the spot the stranger was about to place his foot on. The man jumped back, readjusting his clothing. Jack could feel the man getting uneasy, a sudden tension amidst the air. He pulled the hammer up, a click sound in the aftermath. Jack squinted his eyes, a smirk spreading on his lips. He straightened his back, proceeding to make eye contact with the man. "Castrated Nick! Boy, been a while, huh?"

"5 years and you're still an asshole, _John_." Nick scoffed. Jack shrugged, proud of himself. "You know why I'm here, I think everyone else should." His eyes grew with intent, staring. " _He_ has a name, say it."

Jack grit his teeth together, a sick smirk manifesting on his face. "How could I forget, _Mad Mike's_ been a pain in my ass since I called him cute." Jack teased, hiding it with a spew of hatred.

The man, Mike in Helios, furrowed his brows, turning to the men around him. "Call me Michael from now on."

 _Castrated Nick_ sighed in contempt, the name that brought Jack so much hurt buzzing in his ears.. "Now, that is extremely nice to hear. His name from your mouth." He chuckled, smiling. "Now-"

"Top or bottom?" Jack interrupted, resting his gun back into his holster. He crossed his arms, feigning interest.

Nick stood there, baffled. "I'm sorry, what?" He asked, ushering him to continue.

"When the _great_ Mad Mike gets frisky, does he top? I bet he does." Jack continues, a smiling spreading wide on his face.

"I don't know where you're going with this-"

"Oh!" Jack smacked his palm against his forehead. "That's right. You don't have your stick and berries!" Jack broke out laughing, holding his index finger to his eye, expecting a tear to drop down any moment. "Quite literally, Mike's the only one with the balls in the relationship, huh!?"

"That's not how it works." Nick deadpanned, continuing to grow flustered. His men began chuckling, especially Jack's men. "And your jabs at my manhood have no meaning to me"

"Oh, please! Weren't you the one hiding in the daycare centre when we found you?" Jack asked rhetorically, pointing a finger at the man. Chuckling slowly turned louder, most breaking out in laughs. Jack cleared his throat, a sudden change in his tone. No longer a joking man, but a sinister one. "Should've left you there." He deadpanned. "If you did anything to-"

"Hmm, I'm under the impression I have someone of yours." Nick raised a brow, index finger straightened out on his chin. He tapped it twice, looking around. "Bit chilly out here, don't you think? Let's have a little chat inside-"

"I would rather feed a man his own teeth than let someone like you into _my house_." Jack spat out starkly, "Show me Rhys, then we'll discuss exactly what you want. That sound peachy, babe?" Jack batted his eyes, a fake smile on his lips. Nick clenched his jaw, proceeding to raise his right hand.

Nick scoffed. "I'd really like you to reconsider-"

"Did you not hear a single fuckin' word I just said?!" Jack exclaimed. "Just- just show me Rhys, alright? Before I decide that you're just wasting my time."

Nick stood there, looking at Jack. His decisions were partially clouded due to his emotions, and rolled it up into a brewing scheme of his. "Bring him out." He deadpanned.

"But boss-"

"Bring him out!" Nick yelled. He waved his hand, signalling the men in the van to bring out their prisoner. The man tsked, stepping out of the car. He went to the side of the vehicle, opening up the side door. It slid open, creaking at every movement. Moments passed and no one exited. "Rhys, we want ya to come out on your own, okay?" The man said sweetly, snapping his fingers together as the man who opened the door hesitantly made his way inside. "Don't you fucking move one more inch, Donny." He ordered. "Get the fuck out." _Donny_ hurriedly stepped out, waving his hands up in apology.

Rhys shuffled towards the exit, ankles weak and bruised. He rubbed at his wrists as the cuffs bit deeper into his exposed skin. _'Break for it..?'_ Rhys said to himself, unaware of the stalled car being parked outside Helios. He contemplated whether or not he should sit and wait inside, until someone unsuspecting would reach in, and Rhys would attack the person and flee. He pondered over it seriously.

"Yup, that's it!" Nick said to Rhys, beckoning him out of his thoughts. The boy realised he had one foot out the door, slowly climbing out. "Now come to me, darlin'." He outstretched his arms, initiating a hand gesture for Rhys to come over.

Rhys put a hand over his face, eyes sensitive to the light. Once he adjusted, he walked over to Nick, sighing lowly. The warm air breezed past his exposed bruises and scraped skin. His eyes felt solemn and dead, devoid of colour. He kept his gaze down to the ground, not wanting to provoke anyone. He pulled up his shirt that previously started slipping off his shoulder, shirt torn at the collar, with holds poking out of the fabric. His leggings, previously long pants, now torn into shorts. He recalled their saying, _"It would be funny if he came out looking like a homeless whore."_ He shivered in disgust.

Sasha fell to the ground with a loud thud, crippling shock taking over her. Rhys looked up to her, sudden remorse creeping up on him. He wanted to speak, assure her it was alright, but could no longer process a strong enough voice to say it clearly from the distance between them. Fiona put a hand on her shoulder, rage over-taking her, while Vaughn put a hand over his mouth, nearly on the brink of tears. Jack made eye contact with Rhys, to which the boy quickly reverted his eyes. The masked man clenched his jaw in pure rage, with hidden remorse in his eyes. Rhys continued feeling the piercing eyes of Jack on him, urging to look back, but couldn't muster up the courage.

Nick put his arm around Rhys. "There! See? Still alive." Nick dropped his gaze, putting an easy aura into the atmosphere. "Now, let's discuss." He ushered Jack to speak with a few hand movements.

"You really think I'm gonna make a deal with you while your arm is _draped_ over one of _my_ people?" Jack shocked, baffled. "At least let me get a closer look at him."

Nick's eye twitched as he continued to get more frustrated, unable to wrap his head around Jack's intentions. "It's _my_ turn to make some demands, _Jack_." He smirked, emphasising the words _my_ and _Jack_. "Now little ol' Rhys is going to stay by my side until we strike some sort of arrangement first. Is- is that fair?" Nick asks, raising a brow as he turns his head slightly to the side. His men exit the vehicle as if on queue, guns firmly grasped in their hands.

Jack sighed, standing silent for a few moments. "Fine." He grit out.

"Perfect." The man chimed, sighing in contempt. He looked to Rhys, smiling. "Why don't you be a good boy and walk up with me, huh?"

Something in Rhys stirred, his fear twisting into a white rage. He calmed himself slowly, rationalising his emotions. He looked up to Nick, glaring at him. Nick's glance changed for a moment, long enough for Rhys to see some sort of fear resting beyond them. He could almost feel his lips pinching up into a smile, humoured by what he discovered. "Alright." Rhys deadpanned, starting to walk up to the gates with the man. 

Unbeknownst to Rhys, Nick was lagging behind slightly. "Slow the fuck down." He whispered to Rhys, subtly trying to grab hold of his wrist. Rhys rolled his eyes, proceeding to walk slower. "Thanks for being so compliant." He hummed. Rhys could feel disgust festering within him, pushing away the recurring thoughts plaguing his mind.

Jack clicked his tongue. "That's close enough for you, Nick." He put his hand up flat, pausing Nick in his place. "Rhys, why don't ya come a little bit closer."

Nick cleared his throat. "That's not gonna happen." Nick said, reaching for Rhys' wrist. Rhys pulled his arm away from Nick's eager grasp, stepping away from him slightly. The man's eyes widened, trying to shoot a threatening glare, Rhys scoffed at it.

"If I heard correctly, Jack asked to see _me_." Rhys recalled, looking at the man.

"Well he's seeing ya, ain't he?" Nick expanded the discussion, quirking a brow.

Rhys turned to face Jack, pushing down the bellowing fear of seeing his face, pushing it deep down into the pits of his stomach hoping it wouldn't thrash around and claw it's way back up. "Can you see me clearly from here?" Rhys inquired. Jack's eyes lit up, although concerned hinted itself in his features. Rhys knew it was all because of his bruised and dirtied face, and how dull his eyes were.

"Now that you mention it, haven't got a good picture of ya yet." Jack tapped a finger on his chin, turning his attention back onto Nick. "See? This is the problem I have to work with, can't expect me to buy the cookies when I can't see the box clearly!" Jack fussed, wanting to continue on. He stopped himself, pulling his lips up into a faint smile.

Nick rolled his eyes, ready to snap. He held his tongue, reluctantly speaking. "Fine, why don't ya just step right up, Rhys."

Trying not to be giddy, Rhys made his way up towards Jack, just inches away from the gate. "You come here often?" Rhys said nervously, trying to lighten the mood. What he didn't notice from where he was standing, was Jack looked concerned. So concerned, it wasn't even a ghost of his features. He cursed, pinning it on being so close up, giving him HD access to what he really looked like. His split lip, his dark circles around his red eyes, bruises and cuts decorating his face, Jack could see it all. And it made him angry.

"Rhys.. what did they do to you." Jack dismissed the previously joke from the younger, looking intently in his eyes. Rhys sighed, the left side of his lip raising slightly, in a soft smirking position.

Jack put his hand on one of the iron poles that built up the gate, Rhys following by placing his hand on top of the man's. "Don't worry about me now, Jack. What you need to do is kill these motherfuckers." Rhys spoke softly, keenly speaking with a grave tone. 

Jack nodded in agreement. "Rhys, where the hell's your cover when we start firing?" Jack asked, sincerely. Rhys temporarily looked away, trying to supplement Jack with an answer. "Rhys, if you get hurt-"

"Wait a minute." He furrowed his brows, looking back towards Jack. "These bars.. I'm slim enough, right?" Rhys asked rhetorically. Jack's eyes widened, coming to the same realisation.

As the two continued to talk out logistics, Nick and his men continued standing their, the two looking as though they're initiating small banter, or perhaps an argument. "What the fuck's taking him so long?" Donny scoffed, lighting a cigarette. 

Nick shrugged, continuing to watch Rhys. "Fuck if I know, maybe we should-" His thoughts were quickly derailed as a bullet whizzed past his cheek, leaving a trail of red behind as it carefully nicked him. "Fuck!" He staggered back, covering his bleeding cheek. Smoke bombs pop open in the front of the gates, the bandits unable to remember when the bombs were thrown onto the ground. He looks up as the smoke slowly begins to settle, spotting Rhys slipping through the bars as Jack pries them open with his hands, allowing him easy entry as he helped him into Helios. "It was a fucking diversion!" He yelled flaying his arm, ordering his men to push forward, which they complied. As one of his men stepped _out of bounds_ a sniper assault rifle went off, hitting the man directly into his head. Nick brought his fist up, pausing the small groups efforts in pushing forward.

"Boss, what the fuck are you-"

"Stop fucking moving!" He hounded at the man. "Don't you fucking get it? They have the eyes, we don't." He tried explaining, spitting the words at him like venom. "Just, go back!" The men reluctantly started heading back, their fingers becoming trigger-happy. Nick stayed put, waiting for the smoke to fully settle.

Fiona smirked as she blew the fizzling smoke off the tip of her sniper assault rifle, proud of the shot she initiated. She watched carefully below as Rhys landed on safe grounds, holding Jack's hand softly.

Rhys sighed happily, glad to finally be safe. Jack, surprisingly, reeled Rhys into a quick hug, holding him close. Rhys accepted the embrace almost immediately, closing his eyes softly. Jack pulled away, giving Rhys a quick smile before heading off.

"Thanks for conveniently only grazing that guy's cheek." Rhys quickly said, regaining a touch of his flare. Jack scoffed, looking back to see Rhys.

"I got bigger plans for that guy." jack turned back towards the gate, staring directly out into the fog, as if he could see his target although blind to where he stands. "Light them up." Jack ordered, pressing the hammer down on his pistol until he heard a click.

_Bang_

_Click_

_Bang_

_Click_

_Bang_

-

"Rhys!" Sasha exclaimed excitedly, jumping into his arms. Rhys met both Sasha and Vaughn in their apartment room, overjoyed in that fact. "Oh, thank goodness." She sighed, pulling away with both hands glued to his shoulders. "I'm so glad you're safe!"

"I'm fine, Sash, really. They didn't really do anything to me." He smiled, reassuring her. 

Vaughn looked unconvinced, a look of endearment on his face. "Bro, you don't look good at all. And I mean that in the nicest way possible." He continued. "Your clothes before you were kidnapped and after are.. it's just horrible to think about." Vaughn squeezed his eyes clothes as he furrowed his brows, his head slowly gliding down towards his feet. "You're all battered up, Rhys." His voice slightly broke.

Rhys walked over towards his friend, hugging him as Vaughn continued covering his face with both hands. "They're like that because I tried to escape, Vaughn. If it weren't for that, I'd still have my clothes in mint condition." He explained. "And the bruises and everything that came with it was the punishment I received." Rhys sighed, holding Vaughn's head up. "Hey, you should've seen the other guy." Rhys wiggled his brows, throwing him a joking serious look. Vaughn scoffed.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better." Vaughn said, amused.

"Is it working?" Rhys asked, holding back a few chuckles of his own. Vaughn admitted, giving Rhys a hug. He proceeded to laugh, patting his friends back with a gentle hand. He pulled away, looking at both his friends. "You two should go out and help Fiona, I don't want her out there without you guys."

"Rhys, are you sure?" Sasha asked. Rhys smiled warmly, nodding. Sasha kept her lips sealed, although wanting to protest. She grabbed Vaughn by the arm, understanding that Rhys was trying to get some alone time.

As they both exited, closing the door behind them, Rhys felt his facade crumble, as an invisible darkness swallowed him up whole.

Rhys looked down at his now shaking hands. "I'm compliant..." He uttered as the continuous word echoed through his mind. He no longer felt like he had to keep his persona as he stood there alone in silence, not now anyway. "I'm compliant..." He recited again and again, not noticing the tears dripping down his now wet cheeks. He fell to the floor, collapsing in on himself, he could feel his breath become short, caught up in his throat, nearly on the brink of hyperventilation. He grasped at his throat, unable to catch his breath. "I-I'm compliant." He continued to say to himself, as if to make the words jab deeper into him, pressuring himself to believe it's true. He could finally feel himself catch his breath, taking it in with deep and long breaths. He could see the vague outline of falsity in the words he continued hammering into his skull. He struggled to continue to see it, letting in a numb feeling as he welcomed the negative thoughts pleading entry. He wanted to scream, let it all out, but he couldn't find the motivation to act on those urges. Rhys tried to think of his friends, how much they meant to him, but there was no change, his bonds with them weren't as strong as he thought they were. He hoped thinking about Sasha, Fiona, or Vaughn would make a difference, but faltered as they have yet to hold the deepest emotion he believed in, _romantic love_. As he came to that realisation, all he could think about was how wonderful it would be to be held. To be cared for. To be appreciated. He wanted to be embraced until his soul was purged of all the hands that touched him, of all the eyes that saw him, of all the men who exposed him to the worst feeling imaginable.

 _'But how will I find it?'_ Rhys asked himself, and suddenly doubt plagued his mind. "No one would be able to love me." He admitted, becoming self critical. As he continuously spiralled downwards, he caught his breath again, unable to allow himself to be overwhelmed anymore. He decided to ignore all of his negative thoughts, not allowing himself to be unhappy as his fears grew. "As I still hold what little I have of myself, I have to remember to try and be brave." He said to himself, although slowly starting to die of cringe. He turned and looked at the full bodied mirror to his side, staring at himself in the mirror. He promised himself to try and believe the positive, and less the negative, continuing to drown the previous events that held place. "I'll never let anyone do that to me ever again." Rhys swore, staring at his own eyes through the mirror. With weak attempts, he managed to crawl over to the mirror standing there, looking closer at himself. From his perspective, everything was dark, as if he was sitting in a room with no lights on. He looked deeper into his eyes, examining them.

Rhys forced himself not to abide by the darkness glooming his eyes, corrupting his views on everything and everyone around him. He wanted to be able to see clearly, be able to look in these same eyes without seeing blank orbs with no sparkle within them. "You're Rhys Strongfork, what happened to you doesn't define you." He tried to reassure himself, not sure if he believed those words himself. He closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing. "When you open your damn eyes, you're going to see that the lights are on, and your eyes are gleaming, and you're-" His voice cracked as he held back tears, trying to push himself to forget everything in a matter of minutes. "And you're going to find hope again." He finished, opening his eyes. He could feel relief flowing through him like tidal waves as he noticed that the lights were on, and his eyes looked normal once again. He couldn't possibly ponder on how long it would take for his eyes to dull again, as he overtook himself with relief and joy. He was stunned at how proud he was of himself, giving his dark, negative thoughts a warning. "When I learn to love again, I'll fuck you up." He whispered, putting his cold hand on top his cheek.

Jack stood at the apartment door, hands bloodied and mask splattered. He could feel a sudden smirk creep up on his face, watching as his drenched hands dripped onto the marble floor, glancing over to his bloodied white shirt. Jack brought his attention back onto the door, the wooden slab looking more and more daunting as he continued to stare at it. He attempted multiple times at knocking, but couldn't help but feel an unwanted atmosphere playing tricks on his mind, his inner thoughts laced with doubt. His eyes widened as he heard distant sobbing coming from the room, and left his thoughts behind as he knocked twice on the door, leaving a crimson knuckle print.

Rhys' eyes widened, wiping away the tears that sprouted suddenly from his eyes. Becoming stronger was just something Rhys would have to work on. He stood up, dusting off his knees. "One moment!" Rhys said, changing into clean clothes. Using the generators power, he flipped on the television, turning the volume down low. He switched to a random episode of one of the shows he previously watched a few nights ago, skipping towards the sad scenes. He couldn't help but feel he struck gold, as there was so end to the sad scenes in the series. "Sometimes I impress myself with my genius." He mumbled to himself, sprinting over to the door as soon as he put the remote on the coffee table. He grabbed the doorknob, a bit of anxiety washing over him. Rhys placed his mechanical hand on his chest as he took a deep breath in to calm his nerves.

The door swung open, and Rhys smiled, although shocked to see a bloodied Jack standing in front of him. "Oh, hey Jack." He said sweetly. "That isn't your blood on your hands, is it?" A hint of concern in his tone.

Jack scoffed, proudly raising his head up. "They wish!" He cackled. "Or they would if they were, ya'know, still alive." He continued. "Could I come in for a sec?" Jack asked, giving Rhys a warm smile.

Rhys nodded, standing back for Jack to step inside, which he did. Jack looked around, trying to bring up the sounds of crying he previously heard, until his eyes landed on the tv, spotting crying people. He took in a breath of relief, shaking his head lightly.

"So.. you feelin' okay?" Jack asked. Strangely enough, he hadn't prepared another topic to talk about other than the sobs he previously heard. He sighed, feeling uncharacteristic.

"Well, I'm feeling a lot better now that I'm safe." Rhys responded, smiling. Rhys felt an uneasiness settle in his gut as he studied Jack's features, now truly realising the man had blood all over him. "Here, why don't you wash your hands. I'll go get some rags." Rhys offered, continuing to smile.

"No, it's alright!" Jack ensured, wiping his hands together. The wet blood slipped together like a wine, pushing Rhys just a tad bit over the edge.

The young man shook his head, waving his hands at Jack. "I insist! Can't be comfortable having blood all over your hands."

"Rhys, listen-"

"No, I'll get it don't worry-"

"This is more important-"

"Let me help." Rhys said, taking one more glance at Jack before turning around. The young man felt a bit of speed in his steps as he started walking towards the bathroom, a continuous bad feeling twisting into knots in his stomach. He was halted suddenly, however, turning around to see Jack's hand firmly grasping his arm. Rhys' shaky gaze slowly moved up to the man's eyes, firm and distant. As he turned his body to face Jack, his grasp on the younger slipped and twisted, covering a section of his arm with blood.

"Rhys." Jack deadpanned, an obvious sequel to this one word. Rhys felt the urge to squirm as wet blood stained his previously clean skin, a few stray drips running down, cascading over his elbow. Jack sighed, pulling Rhys in closer, which was an overly easy feat. Rhys felt his heart beating faster with every silent moment, afraid of what the man might say to him. "I can see it in your eyes." Jack said, putting a dirtied hand on Rhys' face. The younger felt a superiority complex with the other, as the man continued to dirty him with blood. He cursed himself for putting up with this, hypnotised by his slow words, unable to find his voice of protest. "You're _not_ okay." He finished stating. Rhys looked him in the eyes, as did the older, with eyes of glass. He cursed himself for wanting to cry.

"They didn't do anything to me." Rhys tried to convince him. "I got tattered up because I tried to escape and- and these bruises were my _punishment_." Punishment slipped off his tongue like a bad taste. The sent of iron sent Rhys into a daze, the potent smell attacking his nose. Jack twisted his face in discomfort, obviously not getting what he wanted.

"All of these bruises?" Jack asked, a subtle aggression in his tone. Rhys hesitantly nodded, clear to him Jack was on edge.

"Maybe we should get you cleaned up." Rhys suggested. Jack stooped down on his knees in front of Rhys, setting alarm bells off in Rhys' mind. "Hey! What are you-!" Jack spread Rhys' legs apart, pulling up his left leg. He positioned it until he could spot a dark bruise on his inner thigh. The younger's face dropped, dread washing over him.

"Did they do this, Rhys?" Jack asked, looking up at him. Rhys stayed silent, shocked. "Was this your punishment?" Jack's fingers grazed over the irritation, blood boiling at every bruise he found down there.

"Please.." Rhys' voice broke. Jack continued scanning his legs, discovering most of the cuts and bruises starting on his thighs then proceeding upwards. "Stop." He demanded, putting both hands on Jack's shoulders. "You need to stop."

Jack sprung up, looking Rhys dead in the eyes. The man towered over him, making Rhys feel meek and small. "I noticed the bruise on your thigh when you slipped through the gates." Jack continued, "I didn't know it was that bad.." He stated, looking down at the man's legs. Rhys felt himself crumble, trying to reassure himself he wouldn't have to say it, that Jack wouldn't figure it out as quickly as he was about to. "Rhys did they..?" The words came out like sandpaper rubbing against skin to Rhys, knowing what he was implying.

He opened his mouth to speak, utterly shocked. "N-" He contemplated saying something completely different, but was unable to push himself hard enough to say it. "No." He answered, unable to look the man in the eyes. He could feel something inside of him darken, unable to change it, having yet to obtain the strength needed. Jack continued to stare at him, at a loss for words. He bore heavy remorse for him, a lack of any other emotion in his eyes. Without saying a word, Jack turned around, and walked out. Leaving Rhys all alone, questioning if Jack believed him or not.

As a matter of fact, Rhys didn't want Jack to believe him. He hoped he had the courage and strength he lacked to say it out loud. Petrified at even the slightest consideration of having to say it.

"I can't.." He uttered out loud, coming to terms with how alone he was in the room, door just slightly ajar.

"I can't."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, sorry that this is such a heavy chapter. Hope you still enjoyed, don't worry, this will all be resolved, and the men will get what they deserve.
> 
> See ya.


End file.
